Sex abuse case against doctor goes to grand jury

By Lance Griffin

Published: October 3, 2008

Sexual abuse charges against a former Dothan doctor will be forwarded to a Houston County grand jury, a district judge ruled Friday.

District Judge Brad Mendheim ruled the case against Gregory Johns met the threshold needed to forward the case to a grand jury. Johns is charged with first degree sexual abuse. He was arrested Sept. 8 after a Dothan woman claimed she was touched inappropriately during medical treatment at Southeast Alabama Medical Center on Sept. 30 of last year.

The woman testified Friday during a preliminary hearing, claiming she had returned to an examination room after being X-rayed and was given medicine she was told could make her sleepy. The woman claimed she fell asleep and was in the process of waking up about 30 minutes later when Johns entered the room and fondled her.

“He put his hands up my shirt and started fondling my breasts,” she said.

Johns’ attorney, Eric Davis, argued the charges should be thrown out because the woman admitted to being fully conscious when the alleged inappropriate touching occurred.

“She was not mentally incapacitated,” Davis said. “If anything, we have an unchaperoned breast exam.”

But the woman claimed she was still “groggy” during the incident.

Dothan police said the arrest was linked to the findings of an Alabama Board of Medical Examiners investigation into Johns.

Johns’ medical license was revoked Tuesday after an investigation by the state board concluded he engaged in inappropriate sexual misconduct with patients on two occasions while working as a contract employee at the SAMC emergency room.