A North Royalton medical professional is accused of having sexual contact with a child in a Mentor medical office.
Inderjeet Sharma, 62, of 9913 Royal Valley Drive, was arrested by detectives with the Mentor Police Department on the evening of June 11 outside of his home after a sexual assault investigation, according to the Mentor Police Department’s Facebook page.
On June 7, police received a report that Sharma had felt a girl’s breast over her shirt, tried to touch her under her clothes and asked her to touch him while the two were alone in a room at the Charak Center for Health and Wellness at 9002 Mentor Ave.
The 12-year-old girl refused his request, said Mentor Police Detective Lt. Tim Allen.
Police also learned that the victim and Sharma allegedly had been exchanging text messages since early May, some of which were sexual in nature. He also told the girl to delete the messages, Allen said.
The detective added that the victim was not a patient of Sharma’s.
Starting on June 9, Mentor police began texting Sharma, posing as the victim. Sharma allegedly sent texts that corroborated the victim’s original report and discussed more inappropriate activity, Allen said.
Sharma was arraigned June 12 in Mentor Municipal Court on three third-degree felony charges: gross sexual imposition, importuning and tampering with evidence.
Judge John Trebets set Sharma’s bond at $300,000 cash or surety, which was not immediately posted.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 19. If convicted on all three felonies, Sharma faces up to 15 years in prison.
Well call me Clarence, it was a girl.