Okemos physical therapist convicted of sexually assaulting women during treatment

Ken Palmer
Lansing State Journal

LANSING — A jury on Friday delivered mixed verdicts in the case against an Okemos physical therapist charged with sexually assaulting female patients under the guise of treatment over a seven-year period ending in 2019.

Ajay Kumar Bhargava, 56, was found guilty on two counts each of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony, and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a high-court misdemeanor, but was acquitted on four other counts.

Bhargava had been free on bond, but visiting Ingham County Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III remanded him to the Ingham County Jail pending a May 30 sentencing hearing.

The jury deliberated more than 12 hours over three days following a trial that spanned about two weeks. The case involved allegations by five women who said Bhargava touched them inappropriately during treatment sessions between early 2012 and June 2019.

One of the women didn't contact police until years after she claimed to have been assaulted, coming forward after former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced for assaulting women and girls under the guise of medical treatment. Former Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon's office declined to authorize criminal charges after first reviewing the evidence but reversed course two years later, after more alleged victims of Bhargava came forward.

Bhargava, whose license to practice physical therapy is suspended by the state, took the witness stand on Monday and denied doing anything improper.

His attorney, Chris Wickman, referred to the Nassar case in his closing argument, suggesting it might have been a factor in the way the complaints against Bhargava were investigated. Meridian Township police publicly apologized to one of Nassar's victims for missing an opportunity to pursue criminal charges against the then-doctor years before his abuse came to light in 2016. The department changed the way it handled certain investigations as a result.

Wickman criticized the investigation and highlighted inconsistencies in the women's testimony, suggesting there was no evidence to corroborate their accounts.

But Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Teddy Eisenhut argued there was no reason for five women with different backgrounds and no prior connection to each other to come forward unless they had been assaulted. The woman testified in "clear, vivid detail about when their physical therapist sexually assaulted them," she said during closing arguments.

The women said Bhargava groped or touched them inappropriately and reacted in a similar fashion, with "shame, confusion, fear of coming forward," Eisenhut said. They had to relive the abuse when talking with friends, significant others and strangers, even becoming the butt of jokes, she said.

"This (courtroom) was the last place they wanted to be," she said.

Bhargava went to trial on five counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a high-court misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison, and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Jurors acquitted him on one count of second-degree CSC and three counts of fourth-degree CSC. The four counts he was found guilty on involved three of the five alleged victims.

Both sides called expert witnesses to testify about medically acceptable practices.

Eisenhut said Bhargava had no medical reason to touch the women as he did. Only rarely is it acceptable for a therapist to touch a woman's nipple or manipulate her breasts, and the therapist needs informed consent from the patient, she said.

Wickman argued that any touching the women found inappropriate might have been accidental and was not sexual in nature, he said. At least some of the women reported receiving excellent care in office surveys, and there was nothing in the records to support the allegations, he said.

"Under the law, there’s no such thing as, 'When there's smoke, there's fire,'" Wickman told the jury.

The alleged assaults occurred at offices in Okemos and Mason.

Bhargava's license to practice physical therapy has been suspended since November 2019, according to the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

Contact Ken Palmer atkpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.