COLUMBIANA COUNTY Doctor faces trial soon on patient's sex charge

Anil Bajaj faces trial in July on a second patient's complaint .
LISBON -- A St. Clair Township doctor accused of illegal conduct involving his patients is set to go on trial Tuesday on the first of two criminal charges against him.
Dr. Anil Bajaj, 39, of Lakeview Circle, is expected to stand trial beginning Tuesday before Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.
Bajaj, who has been free on $25,000 bond, was indicted by a county grand jury in late summer 2001. He is charged with sexual battery, a third-degree felony bearing a maximum 5-year jail sentence.
Authorities say that on July 27, Bajaj kissed and fondled a 21-year-old female patient from Wellsville during an examination.
The woman had gone to Bajaj, her family doctor, for treatment of a foot ailment. An investigation was undertaken after St. Clair Township police were called.
Another charge
On July 9, Bajaj is scheduled to stand trial before Judge Pike on a second criminal charge.
Bajaj was indicted by a grand jury in early autumn of last year on a charge of gross sexual imposition.
The offense is a fourth-degree felony bearing a maximum 18-month jail sentence.
Authorities say this crime also occurred July 27 while Bajaj was examining a 36-year-old female patient from Wellsville.
He had the woman lift her blouse and touched her inappropriately, authorities allege.
Bajaj is originally from India and has surrendered his passport while the criminal charges are pending, a prosecutor has said.
The Ohio medical board Web site states that Bajaj is a specialist in internal medicine and that his license to practice medicine in Ohio is valid through July 2003.