A Detroit doctor has been charged with using hidden cameras to secretly record women and children in the hospital where he worked for more than six years, police reported.
Dr. Oumair Aejaz, 40, reportedly spied on people in changing rooms, closets, bathrooms and bedrooms at hospitals and at a local swim club, recording children as young as 2 and women recovering from operations in various hospital rooms, according to a news release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
“This is one of the most disturbing sexual predator cases I have seen in my very long career,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a news conference Tuesday. “He violates literally anyone and everyone he can. From a 2-year-old boy to grown women, no one is immune from his disgusting predatory behavior.” The number of victims is unknown “because there are so many of them,” he added.
Police said Aejaz, a specialist in internal medicine, is from India and was working in the U.S. on a visa after he came to the country in 2011.
Aejaz had privileges at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township and Ascension Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc Township, officials said. Both hospitals are cooperating with the investigation.
“We are shocked by these allegations and take them very seriously. This individual has never been an employee of Henry Ford Health but had privileges at several area hospitals, including Henry Ford Macomb Hospital,” Henry Ford Macomb Hospital said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Ascension said in an emailed statement to NBC News that the company was aware of “the serious and concerning allegations against a physician who has medical privileges, but is not employed by Ascension Genesys.” They added that the “health and safety of our patients and associates is of the utmost importance” and they are “fully cooperating” with the investigation.
Detectives got a tip about Aejaz’s behavior on Aug. 7 and raided his home the next day, seizing six computers, four cellphones and 15 external storage devices. NBC affiliate WDIV of Detroit reported that the tipoff came from Aejaz’s wife.
Just one device contained 13,000 videos dating back six years, and detectives estimate it will take at least six months to fully examine all the seized devices.
Officials say the magnitude of the case shows Aejaz’s “depravity had no limits.”
“These are children and moms at a swim school. They were victimized by a person of trust in the community — a medical doctor,” said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald said at the news conference.
Anyone who believes he or she may have been a victim can contact the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office at OCSOSIU@oakgov.com.
