Redding doctor found guilty on 63 counts of sexually assaulting female patients

Mike Chapman, Redding Record Searchlight
·2 min read
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Dr. Hamid Rabiee of Redding has been convicted of all 63 counts charged against him in connection with the sexual assault of a number of female patients, the Shasta County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday, June 7, 2022.
Dr. Hamid Rabiee of Redding has been convicted of all 63 counts charged against him in connection with the sexual assault of a number of female patients, the Shasta County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

A Shasta County jury Tuesday convicted a Redding neurologist of all 63 counts that accused him of sexually assaulting a number of female patients, the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office said.

Dr. Hamid Rabiee, 65, was found guilty of the charges, including enhancements, that accused him of touching intimate parts of the women’s bodies, the DA’s Office said.

“These acts were done under the guise of legitimate neurological medical treatment,” the office said.

Each woman came forward independently and did not know of the other women's allegations, according to the DA's Office.

“(They) were not aware of the other victims’ allegations,” the DA’s Office said.

The charges involved Rabiee touching the victims’ breasts, buttocks and vaginal area during exams.

Rabiee, who was arrested in February 2018, will be sentenced July 5 in Shasta County Superior Court.

The Redding Police Department investigated numerous complaints that accused Rabiee of “inappropriate and unwelcome physical contact,” the DA’s Office said.

According to Record Searchlight archives, filings show Redding police reports alleging Rabiee assaulted patients as far back as 2005. A police investigator forwarded a case involving Rabiee to the DA's Office in 2007, but charges were not filed.

"There are many reasons cases can be declined. Sex offenses can be particularly difficult to prove because it can be often the word of the perpetrator against the word of the victim," DA Stephanie Bridgett said in 2018. "In this case, once we received additional information, it caused us to reevaluate that prior case and we were able to refile."

After news of the allegations came out, Redding police received calls from 26 patients reporting similar abuses from Rabiee, according to an investigative police report filed in court.

In March 2018, a judge announced the Shasta County Grand Jury had indicted Rabiee, alleging 18 new victims.

In a Record Searchlight article from July 2021, Rabiee’s lawyer, Jacob Levin, said Rabiee maintained his innocence and that the allegations were the result of a small fraction of patients misinterpreting medical procedures.

More on this case:

Prior reporting by former Record Searchlight reporter Matt Brannon was included in this report.

Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: California doctor Hamid Rabiee convicted of 63 counts of sexual assault