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SANTA ANA (CNS) - A former Orange County-based physician pleaded guilty today to fondling a patient and was immediately sentenced to 90 days in jail.
David Duncan House, who is now practicing in Lakeport in Northern California, pleaded guilty to a felony count of sexual battery involving an unconscious person and a misdemeanor count of sexual exploitation by physician, according to court records.
House was placed on one year of formal probation and ordered to participate in a sex offender program.
The case stems from an Aug. 23, 2016, encounter with a patient who came to his office in Mission Viejo to be examined for an allergic reaction to sunscreen, according to court records. The 33-year-old woman said House had been her primary care physician for five years.
During the examination, the woman said House checked her breasts and touched her groin area, according to court records. At the end of the exam, she said he told her, ``Sometimes I wish I could go further with you,'' according to court records.
A physician serving as House's supervisor said in court papers that he had a talk with House after the incident in which he said he ``messed up'' by not having a chaperone in the room with him as required under a performance improvement program implemented since 2014 when he worked at Family Service Kaiser Medical Offices.
The state Attorney General's Office attempted to obtain a court order in May prohibiting House from continuing to practice medicine, but that was denied and House was ordered to not see female patients without a chaperone present.
House resigned from Kaiser shortly after the incident. A doctor supervising him at his current job praised House, according to court papers.