Gynecologist gets two years' probation for sexual battery

<p>A gynecologist who had been accused of sexually assaulting patients has been sentenced to probation after pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.</p><p>Monday's sentence also prohibits Eric Buffong from having contact with female patients. He will not receive first offender status so the sentence will stay on his record.</p><p>Buffong, who made no statement in the courtroom, was indicted in October 2005 on one count each of rape, aggravated sodomy, sodomy and sexual battery. The rape charge in one case was reduced to sexual battery while the aggravated sodomy and sodomy charges were dropped in the second case.</p><p>Buffong's attorneys, Mark Shelnutt of Columbus and Tony Axam of Atlanta, maintain Buffong is innocent. That is why a plea of no contest, rather than guilty, was entered, they said.</p><p>Buffong will serve two years of probation.</p><p>But the sentence angered one of the women who accused Buffong.</p><p>"I am in no way in favor of this," the woman, who no longer lives in Columbus, told Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters. "This plea has been forced on me just like when he raped me."</p><p>Calling Buffong a sexual predator, she said the plea agreement sends a message to other women in the community who might be attacked to "keep your mouth shut."</p><p>The reduced charge was offered because the cases were not as strong as the state would have liked, Assistant District Attorney Richard Mobley said. While DNA evidence strongly implied there had been sexual contact between the two, it could not be used to prove whether the sex was forced or consensual.</p><p>In an attempt to have Buffong implicate himself, a cell phone call between an accuser and Buffong was taped by police. Although the two discussed "rough sex," there was never anything incriminating said by Buffong, the prosecutor said. On one tape, the woman was recorded saying, "Will it always be rough like that? It felt like rape."</p><p>Mobley felt the tapes might have even helped the defense in a trial.</p><p>"I know the woman is dissatisfied, but we did get a conviction," Mobley said. "We just felt that with the case we had, it was in everyone's best interest to offer the plea. We're keeping him from practicing medicine."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc720)</p>