An anesthesiologist was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for what a judge called "reprehensible" sexual assaults on 21 sedated women during surgeries – violations that left his victims with lasting emotional damage. 
 
 Dr. George Doodnaught, 65, exploited the extraordinarily high degree of trust the patients placed in him, Ontario Superior Court Justice David McCombs said. 
 
 "The profound psychological impact of the physical violations has been compounded by the victims' deep feelings of betrayal – that these offences were committed during surgery, by a medical doctor, in an operating room, a place of ultimate vulnerability and trust," McCombs said in sentencing Doodnaught. 
 
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 "His conduct did enormous damage and was reprehensible in the extreme." 
 
 Many of Doodnaught's victims were in the courtroom and wiped tears from their eyes as the sentence was read. Their victim impact statements at an earlier sentencing hearing told of "debilitating" feelings of anger and bitterness, shame, panic attacks, loss of self-worth, distrust of doctors and an inability to form intimate relationships, McCombs said. 
 
 "In several cases [Doodnaught] compounded his victims' sense of violation and humiliation by manipulating them to try to make them believe they were somehow responsible – that they had initiated sexual contact or had engaged in sexually explicit conversations," the judge said. 
 
 Though Doodnaught was sentenced to 10 years, he may not spend much time in custody. Doodnaught intends to appeal his convictions, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario is set to hear an application Wednesday to let him out on bail pending the appeal. 
 
 He was on bail throughout the trial, so his victims stayed in the courtroom after the sentence was read to see the handcuffs slapped on and the disgraced doctor led out of the room. 
 
 One of his victims – the one who sparked the investigation – clapped as he was led away. Outside court, she said the prospect of more court hearings as Doodnaught proceeds with his appeal is "devastating," but she will keep attending and fighting to be heard. 
 
 "At this point, I've come this far and I need to show my children how to do the right thing and how to stand up [against] what's wrong and this is so wrong on so many levels and I need to do that for them," she said with her husband by her side. 
 
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 The woman, who can't be identified because of a publication ban, had a mass on several organs when she went in for a hysterectomy in 2010. During the surgery, Doodnaught fondled her breasts, kissed her and put his penis in her mouth, the court found. 
 
 When she was in the recovery room, Doodnaught leaned in close to her and said, "As soon as you were out, the first thing you reached for was my … [penis]," the court found. 
 
 Doodnaught declined the opportunity to make a statement before he was sentenced, which the victim said was telling. 
 
 "Never once during this whole process, even when I was on the stand, when I was giving my victim impact statement, at any time, did he look at me," she said outside court. "He's a coward." 
 
 Doodnaught's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said his client was "disappointed" with the sentence. "He continues to enjoy widespread support not only with his family but amongst his colleagues, patients," he said outside court. 
 
 The judge noted that the defence filed 49 letters of support from Doodnaught's family, former colleagues, patients and friends. 
 
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 "They are uniformly shocked that the man they know has been found to have committed these crimes," McCombs said. 
 
 "His family members and supporters describe him as a modest, caring and loving person and a supportive and generous mentor, who took great pride in his work as an anesthesiologist and most of all, in his family." 
 
 When Doodnaught was convicted in November, McCombs found the doctor relied on his three decades of operating-room experience to avoid detection as he kissed women, fondled their breasts and put his penis in their mouth or hand. 
 
 Doodnaught was known as a "touchy-feely" doctor, often stroking a patient's cheek or hair to soothe them during surgery, so the judge found his physical proximity during surgery didn't arouse suspicion with other staff even as he sexually assaulted the women while concealed only by a surgical drape. 
 
 It is a unique set of circumstances in Canadian law, McCombs said Tuesday. 
 
 "There are no reported Canadian cases in which an anesthesiologist sexually assaulted sedated patients in an operating room during surgery," he said. 
 
 All but one of the assaults took place at the North York General Hospital in Toronto. They became more frequent until Doodnaught was caught, with the first six spread over three and a half years and 15 others in the last six months before he was stopped. 
 
 The hospital told Doodnaught to take a leave of absence after the last woman he assaulted went to police. 
 
 His medical licence was suspended, but the College of Physicians and Surgeons still has to hold a disciplinary hearing, which could lead to it being revoked. 
 
 The hospital's chief executive officer has apologized on behalf of the medical facility to all of the victims for the impact Doodnaught's crimes had on their lives. The hospital has since made changes to how it addresses and tracks patient complaints. ||||| Former North York General anesthesiologist Dr George Doodnaught was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years imprisonment for sexually assaulting 21 of his female patients. As Doodnaught, 65, was handcuffed and arrested from court, a few of the women clapped. 
 
 George Doodnaught is shown in a Toronto police handout photo. The anesthesiologist convicted of sexually assaulting 21 sedated women during surgeries has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. ( Photo / Canadian Press ) 
 
 His conduct was “reprehensible in the extreme,” Superior Court Justice David McCombs said in his decision. “It must be condemned in the strongest terms.” In November, Doodnaught was found guilty of sexually assaulting 21 women between the ages of 25 and 75 while they were semi-conscious on the operating table. All but one of the women were undergoing surgeries at North York General Hospital between 2006 and 2010. Doodnaught was a popular anesthesiologist at the hospital for 26 years. 
 
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 The Crown had asked for 12 to 15 years imprisonment during the sentencing hearing earlier this month. The defence suggested eight to 10 years. “I am very happy with the conviction, however I am very disappointed with the sentencing,” said the patient whose complaint launched the criminal investigation. She cannot be identified due to a publication ban. “Ten years, as far as I’m concerned, is insulting.” The judge made his decision based on the law, and the laws need to change, she said. During the trial, her testimony and the reading of her victim impact statement, she says, Doodnaught did not look at her once. “He’s a coward,” she said. 
 
 In his lengthy judgment released in November following the 76-day trial, McCombs found that Doodnaught took advantage of his position in the operating room, concealed behind a sterile screen that separates patients’ upper and lower bodies. Hidden from the doctors and nurses, Doodnaught fondled the breasts of sedated female patients, kissed their mouths and forced them to perform oral sex and masturbation, McCombs found. 
 
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 In his sentencing decision, McCombs noted that in the months before Doodnaught was arrested the assaults escalated. Fifteen of the 21 assaults occurred in the past six months, four in the 10 days before his arrest. Doodnaught’s lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said Doodnaught and his family are disappointed by the convictions. They are appealing the convictions but not the sentence. The notice of appeal filed with the court argues that McCombs erred in finding the testimony of the complainants plausible and “rejected evidence inconsistent with guilt.” That includes the defence submission that it was impossible for Doodnaught to have committed the assaults based on the proximity of operating room staff and the positioning of medical equipment. A bail hearing for Doodnaught’s release pending appeal is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Court of Appeal. In his sentencing decision, McCombs noted the “great personal courage and dignity” of the victims and their families, and the “profound psychological impact” they suffered. Patients had made three formal sexual assault complaints to North York General Hospital about Doodnaught before a complaint in 2010 sparked a criminal investigation. The hospital’s chief of anesthesiology was aware of the complaints but the senior hospital administration only learned of them after the 2010 complaint was made, McCombs found in his ruling. Serious complaints about staff, including allegations of sexual assault, are now being reported directly to the hospital’s CEO. Doodnaught, whose medical licence is suspended, is set to face a disciplinary hearing with the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons. A date has not yet been set. In the notice of hearing, the College notes that the mandatory penalty for sexually abusing a patient is a revoked licence and public reprimand. While there were only 21 patients involved in the criminal case, the notice of hearing contains allegations that Doodnaught sexually abused 30 patients. One of the alleged sexual assaults dates back to 1992. ||||| Bill Cosby will be sentenced this week after being convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand in 2004. For the dozens of women who accused the comedian of sexual misconduct, this is their only chance to see Cosby behind bars. 
 
 “I really do hope he does get prison time. He’s responsible for his actions, and this is a way to show he’s taking responsibility — whether he wants to or not,” Lise-Lotte Lublin, a teacher in Las Vegas who said Cosby sexually assaulted her in 1989, tells TIME. “This is the message that has needed to be sent for a very long time.” 
 
 The stakes are high for Cosby’s two-day sentencing hearing, which begins Monday in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania – outside Cosby’s native Philadelphia. The 81-year-old faces a maximum of up to 30 years, meaning he would likely spent the rest of his life in prison. Pennsylvania’s sentencing guidelines recommend 22-36 months for someone with no previous criminal record. However, state sentencing rules could also allow him to get off with house arrest or probation. 
 
 It’s all up to the discretion of Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O’Neill, an elected official with with 16 years on the bench. 
 
 Lise-Lotte Lublin, an alleged victims of Bill Cosby, listens to a question during news conference with attorney Gloria Allred on Feb. 12, 2015 in Los Angeles. Frederick M. Brown—Getty Images 
 
 Cosby was found guilty in April of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault of Constand. At least 60 other women have accused the comedian of sexual misconduct dating back to the 1960s. (Cosby, who has been on house arrest since his conviction, has denied all of the allegations and his attorneys have said they intend to appeal the conviction.) 
 
 But many of Cosby’s accusers will never get their day in criminal court. 
 
 “I personally don’t see it as adequate justice for all of the other women,” Lublin says. “The system had a flaw it in: the statute of limitations, and that’s what we have to focus on changing so this doesn’t ever happen to someone else.” 
 
 Prosecutors were hoping to have other accusers tell their stories publicly at the sentencing. In January, 156 women gave powerful statements at the sentencing of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct with underage girls, and said that they felt like their voice was finally heard. 
 
 But most of Cosby’s accusers won’t get that chance: On Thursday, O’Neill denied the prosecution’s request to allow other accusers to speak. 
 
 Constand will be allowed to give a victim impact statement. But it’s unclear whether the other five women who testified at the trial about prior “bad acts” — including Lublin and model Janice Dickinson — will be allowed to speak again. O’Neill asked the prosecution to clarify whether the prosecution intends to call them within 24 hours. 
 
 Both Lublin and Dickinson will be in Pennsylvania and hope to have the opportunity to be heard. 
 
 “There are 50 to 60 other women out there who wish they could be in my shoes and have this opportunity. I am doing this so that I can have some closure, I can get back to the beautiful life that I’ve always had,” Lublin says. “This is still a part of my process too — I’m still going through the healing process, I still need to close the book on my emotional tags that are connected to this.” 
 
 Dickinson’s attorney, Lisa Bloom, says that she wants Cosby to have to listen to the damage that his alleged assaults caused his victims. She says she has already heard the statement Dickinson hopes to read in court. 
 
 Judge Steven T. O'Neill of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas walks after it was announced a verdict is in for the Bill Cosby sexual assault retrial at the Montgomery County Courthouse for day fourteen of his sexual assault retrial on April 26, 2018 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Mark Makela—Getty Images 
 
 “It was a very powerful and moving statement about what she said the rape did to her, her career, her life — how it changed everything. She couldn’t trust people, she became a different person afterward,” Bloom says. “It was very hard for her to write that statement. It was very hard for her to read it to me even in the comfortable, safe setting of my office. It’s very hard for her to get on the plane and go out there. It’s going to be very hard for her to get up on the witness stand and do it. But she’s got the courage to do it.” 
 
 Most legal experts believe that Cosby will face some time in prison, but many don’t expect that he’ll get the maximum sentence. Though Cosby has been accused by dozens of other women, this is his first conviction. 
 
 The sentencing hearings will also determine whether Cosby will be designated as a sexually violent predator, which would require him to register as a sex offender for the rest of is life and undergo counseling. 
 
 Joseph Khan, a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a former sex crimes prosecutor in Pennsylvania, says he expects that O’Neill will be keenly aware of the stakes — including the heightened awareness of sexual assault and harassment since the #MeToo movement erupted a year ago. 
 
 Cosby’s legal team has attacked O’Neill, accusing him of bias because he had ran against a witness who testified in the pre-trial hearing for a political post. O’Neill said this week that he would not step down from the case and said the claim was “wholly without merit.” 
 
 “I don’t think the judge is going to feel swayed by public pressure from anybody… But I do think the judge is going to recognize how public this case is in thinking about deterrence,” Khan says. “It’s likely that the judge will recognize that whatever sentence he gives to a person convicted of hurting a woman in a horrible way is going to be a statement about what we think about that and how society should respond. 
 
 “I think, for that reason, that will be a very compelling reason against a probationary or house arrest sentence. He’s going to be conscious about sending the right message, and I think it’s very likely that he will impose prison time.” 
 
 Bloom says that she hopes the #MeToo movement has showed just how damaging sexual assault can be for its victims and that perpetrators need to be held accountable for their actions. She says she and Dickinson hopes Cosby gets the maximum sentence. 
 
 “Until that guilty verdict, many of us found it hard to believe that someone as wealthy and powerful as Bill Cosby could really be held accountable for what he had done,” Bloom says. “And the guilty verdict said, yes it is possible. You can stand up to somebody with that level of power and resources and you can get justice.” 
 
 It’s been a long road for the accusers to get to Cosby’s conviction in the one case. Constand first came forward to police in 2005, but a local prosecutor declined to press charges at the time. The first trial in Constand’s case ended in a mistrial in 2017. 
 
 And the legal battle for other women is just beginning. Several other women still have pending civil lawsuits against Cosby. Joseph Cammarata, an attorney representing seven women who have sued Cosby for defamation, says his case had been on hold and will be able to move forward once the criminal case concludes. He believes the guilty verdict will only help their case. 
 
 “I think what we have is a recognition that people in power, particularly men in power, cannot abuse their position and assault women,” he says. “My clients look forward to their opportunity to restore their good name and reputation.” 
 
 Lublin successfully fought to extend Nevada’s statue of limitations for sexual assault cases to make sure that other women in her position are able to have their day in court. Other women who accused Cosby have been leading the charge to change the law in their states. Lublin hopes that next week’s sentencing sends a strong message to other victims that it is possible to be believed. 
 
 “Hopefully, this is going to build a trend where victims are going to feel more comfortable to come forward,” Lublin says. “We can’t go back to the old ways.”
– One of his victims clapped as George Doodnaught got led away in handcuffs, and it's hard to blame her: The Toronto anesthesiologist got sentenced to 10 years in prison today for sexually assaulting her and 20 other women during surgery. The victims were "sedated but still aware of their surroundings" during the assaults, reports AFP. The 65-year-old fondled them and forced oral sex on them, among other things. In the recovery room, he would tell the women that they had initiated once the drugs kicked in. “Never once during this whole process, even when I was on the stand, when I was giving my victim impact statement, at any time, did he look at me,” the woman who clapped tells the Globe and Mail. “He’s a coward.” Doodnaught worked at North York General for 26 years, and all but one of the victims had surgery there between 2006 and 2010, reports the Toronto Star. He was often separated from the rest of the medical team with a surgical drape. Though not part of the criminal case, allegations of about 10 other assaults date back to 1992.