A faculty member of the College of Medicine at the University of Florida Jacksonville campus is being charged with molestation after giving a babysitter a massage. The 45-year-old is a doctor at a medical center in Jacksonville, in addition to his duties as a professor.

An arrest report indicated that the doctor told the babysitter he was in the process of becoming a massage therapist, and he had to give massages in order to acquire his license. The alleged lewd act occurred after the babysitter was lying down on a bed and received the massage.

There was no sexual intent though when the doctor gave the massage, according to the 45-year-old's attorney. Despite authorities labeling the act lewd and lascivious, he called it a "legitimate massage by a medical doctor." The attorney also pointed to the fact that the babysitter was a swimmer with "sore muscles and joints." It is possible that the massage was helpful for the babysitter, as well as for the doctor who was trying to attain a massage therapy license.

The 45-year-old has been an employee with the University of Florida for nearly a decade, and for a man in such a respected profession, this alleged lewd act could do untold harm to his career. If the acts claimed in this case turn out to be true, the doctor will have to register as a sex offender and face an unspecified amount of jail time. The prison sentence in lewd or lascivious crimes depends on the age of the victim, and the babysitter's age in this case was not released.

Source: WJXT, "Shands doctor faces new molestation charge," Jan. 20, 2012