Woman must pay $2.8 million for false sex-assault charges

A woman who accused her doctor of molesting her and having his identical twin impersonate him to assault her must pay the doctor $2.8 million (2.2 million) because she fabricated the allegations, a judge ruled. Judge Katherine Stolz dismissed Perla Saldivar's lawsuit against her doctor, Dr. Dennis Momah, and his twin, Dr. Charles Momah, a gynecologist, saying her allegations were inconsistent with evidence.

Photo: Woman must pay .8 million for false sex-assault charges

"The contradictions and inconsistencies in Ms. Saldivar's testimony were some of the most pronounced this court has ever seen," Stolz wrote Wednesday. The ruling is the latest in a saga involving the Momahs. Charles Momah was sentenced in November to 20 years in prison for sexual crimes against female patients. Patients said he unnecessarily prescribed pain medication, performed unnecessary procedures and fondled them. He has appealed.

Dennis Momah has not been charged with any crimes, but former patients have claimed he sometimes posed as his brother to abuse them. The judge also fined Saldivar's lawyer $300,000 (235,200). Stolz called Harish Bharti a knowing participant in the falsehoods against the Momah brothers, and also ordered him to post her decision on his Web site for at least a year or as long as it contains reference to the brothers. He said he will appeal. Albert Saldivar said he and his wife would also appeal the ruling, calling it "an unjust blunder that flies right into the face of public policy of protecting victims of sexual crimes, and sends the wrong message that it pays to be a sexual predator", reports the AP.

N.U.