Friday, March 05, 1999
Optometrist sentenced to 4 years for fondling
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Before sentencing Muhammad Akhtar to prison Thursday, a judge asked the optometrist to explain why he fondled five children during eye exams.
Mr. Akhtar, who is married with two children of his own, stared at the floor and shook his head.
“What's your problem?” the judge asked.
“I'm trying to find that out myself,” Mr. Akhtar said.
The exchange took place just moments before Judge Norbert Nadel ordered Mr. Akhtar to serve four years in prison for having sexual contact with the girls.
Mr. Akhtar, 34, of Wilder, pleaded guilty in January to six counts of gross sexual imposition involving girls who ranged in age from 10 to 15 years old.
He pleaded no contest to another charge Thursday involving a girl, 13, who told prosecutors Mr. Akhtar touched her breasts during an exam.
Prosecutors say most of the offenses occurred at an eye care center in the Wal-Mart store in Columbia Township.
They have said two of the charges involve a 15-year-old who was told by Mr. Akhtar to pull up her blouse and remove her bra.
The other counts, they said, involved similar conduct by Mr. Akhtar between July and October 1998.
Several relatives of victims were on hand Thursday at his sentencing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
The grandmother of one girl told the judge the experience has been traumatic for her granddaughter:“She feels very violated.”
West side is Cincinnati's home of chiefs
Ex-police chief faked war record
Justin's birth mother misled us, co-workers say
Most on council won't campaign for mayor-reform plan
New mayor proposal
Public schools take new attitude
Teachers' union enlists public in opposing cuts
Radiation settlement delayed by one holdout
Chronic DUI driver Jodrey makes deal
Con man solicits money in name of missing girl
Honk if you spot a lost swan
Internet seduction case goes to juvenile court
Millennium Baby an iffy proposition
Nurse vacancy rates jump this year
Uganda rangers provided false image of safety
Lewinsky helps Ch. 9 win sweeps
Judge states case for journey to Paris
Life and death, every day
'Monica's Story' here: Nothing doing
Optometrist sentenced to 4 years for fondling
Police end digging in search for body
Pupils do Ky. proud on tests
Reports on jail death differ
Taft displays youth works
Taft unveils college tax break
Being fat not a disability, judge rules in officer's firing
Big companies spew few toxic wastes, chamber says
Buses for disabled will keep running
Deerfield land decision Tuesday
Handicapped dog goes to therapy school
Independence police just looking for a home
Lakota has training for new teacher substitutes
Museum eyes old post office
Park springs from an old water plant
School flexibility on spending backed
Teen gets adult court in school fire case
TRISTATE DIGEST
