Son of ex-Bermuda leader on trial for sexually assaulting patients

The doctor son of Bermuda’s former leader is on trial in Los Angeles for allegedly sexually assaulting 12 of female patients.

Kevin Antario Brown, 40, is accused of using the guise of unnecessary breast and pelvic checkups to fondle his patients, even if they were there for the flu, a prosecutor has told his trial, CNN reports.

He has pleaded not guilty to 33 charges ranging from sexual exploitation to rape, AP reports.

Brown is the son of Ewart Brown, who stepped down as Bermuda’s premier late last year. He is on $US4 million bail and is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all counts.

One woman alleges Brown raped her; another claims he slapped her bottom while she was bent over and asked: ‘‘Who’s hittin’ that?’’, Wise said, AP reports.

Brown was arrested in 1988 and most of them women can forward after that, the court heard.

One of them he allegedly assaulted was an undercover officer.

A Los Angeles county prosecutor Ann Marie Wise told the court in her opening statement that Brown often flirted with his female patients, asked some of them out on dates and improperly touched them.

Wise said the undercover vice officer visited his office in June 2008 saying she had an ankle injury and he allegedly lifted her shirt and bra and fondled her breast.

Defense lawyer Edi Faal told the court the officer lied about what happened, saying nowhere on the audio tape does the woman protest about what supposedly happened, AP reports.

Faal told the court that the officer forgot to turn off the recorder and is heard on the tape afterwards saying to colleagues, ‘‘Next time he will bite’’.

"She told them a lie, an outright lie,’’ Faal said.

None of the other women alerted any of Brown’s staff to what was allegedly occurring, Faal said.