Dr. Ayman Awad
ARIZONA MEDICAL BOARD RECORD— 20281
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—no actions listed as of 3/02/2018
Doctor arrested after FBI investigates rape photos
LAKE HAVASU CITY – Disturbing images of a young woman being sexually assaulted while lying unconscious on a tile floor prompted an investigation that led to the arrest of a Lake Havasu City radiologist.
Dr. Ayman Awad, 58, was booked into jail on Nov. 15 for sexual abuse, sexual assault and surreptitious photographing.
A Lake Havasu City police report said an employee of a local imaging center contacted the FBI in November of 2015 after locating suspicious material in the course of her work. Evidence collected by the employee and provided to the FBI included a hard drive.
The police report said the FBI was able to identify the alleged victim from a blurred image of a driver’s license, one of 28 photographs stored in the hard drive. It said that the alleged victim, who resides in Los Angeles, did not recall being sexually assaulted, but she confirmed she had visited Lake Havasu on spring break many years ago. She also confirmed that she is the woman pictured on the tile floor.
The police report said the alleged victim told police she met Dr. Awad at a bar and only remembers waking up the next morning at the motor home where she was staying. An investigation continues. (LINK)—11/20/2017
Havasu doctor accused of sexual assault released from custody, posted $60K bond
LAKE HAVASU CITY – A Havasu doctor has been released from police custody after his arrest last week in reference to an alleged sexual assault that occurred nearly one decade ago.
Ayman Awad, 58, of Havasu, was arrested Nov. 15 on charges of sexual abuse, sexual assault and surreptitious recording, after photographs emerged which allegedly showed Awad disrobing and sexually assaulting an unconscious female victim in a 2008 incident. Awad was released from Mohave County Jail on a $60,000 bond. Awad’s preliminary hearing was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lake Havasu City Municipal Court.
Awad was, until recently, the medical director of Lake Havasu Imaging Center. According to police, one of Awad’s former employees in 2015 examined an external hard drive in a cabinet at Lake Havasu Imaging Center, where she discovered the alleged photographs. The former employee, who has not yet been identified, brought her alleged findings to the Lake Havasu City Police Department, which has for nearly two years coordinated efforts with the FBI in finding and interviewing Awad’s alleged victim.
Lake Havasu City Police officials have not yet identified the victim of the alleged assault. A resident of Los Angeles, the victim came to Havasu for Spring Break in 2008, and met Awad at a bar, according to statements taken by the FBI. According to the victim’s statement, she remembered almost nothing of the night of that meeting except for waking in a trailer owned by a friend, where she was living during her trip to Havasu.
Awad allegedly called the victim shortly after she awoke, and informed her that she left several of her belongings at his home. According to the victim’s statement, she came to Awad’s residence, where he told her that she lost consciousness the night before. Awad allegedly informed the victim that she attempted to steal money from the bar’s cash register, had been caught by security guards at the establishment, and Awad had interceded to protect her from legal trouble. According to the victim’s statement, she did not believe him at the time.
According to the FBI’s report, the victim became visibly upset when officials showed her the photographs – for almost 10 years she remained unaware of the suspected assaulted.
The Lake Havasu City Police Department was on Monday not at liberty to divulge the names of witnesses nor the nature of their respective testimonies. (LINK)—11/23/2017
Doctor accused of sex assault takes plea deal
The story of a Lake Havasu City radiologist accused of sexual assault will draw to a close in December, following a plea agreement by the defendant. The woman who initially reported the offense will remain in prison well after the defendant’s sentence is served.
Ayman N. Awad, 61, was indicted last November on charges of sexual assault and surreptitious photography after a two-year investigation by federal authorities. Awad, who owns Havasu Imaging Center, accepted a plea agreement Monday in which the sexual assault charge would be dismissed. He will plead guilty to surreptitious photography, the sentence for which will be six to 30 months in prison.
The “Whistleblower”
The case against Awad began in 2014, when former employee Kerri Hynes allegedly noticed inconsistencies in Awad’s business records. Hynes collected records from the business with the intent of acting as a whistleblower against her former employer. In 2015, Hynes’ investigation led her to an external hard drive found in a desk at Awad’s business. According to statements by Hynes last December, she believed at the time she might find evidence of criminal activity in Awad’s alleged hard drive. She was unprepared for what that entailed.
Hynes discovered dozens of photographs depicting the alleged sexual assault of an unconscious woman in Awad’s home, which the Mohave County Attorney’s Office says occurred in March 2008. According to statements by Hynes, she intended to bring a copy of the allegedly incriminating files from the hard drive to federal investigators in Phoenix, after a family vacation to Boston in the summer of 2015.
In her absence, however, Awad reported to Lake Havasu City Police detectives that Hynes had stolen more than $72,000 from Awad and his business. Hynes was arrested on 11 counts of theft and one count of fraud upon her return to Havasu. It was an accusation Hynes denied, and continues to maintain her innocence.
Hynes was released from custody on $35,000 bond in July 2015, and delivered Awad’s alleged hard drive files to the FBI as her own case remained pending.
Hynes disputed the charges against her, but after several missed court appearances, she pleaded guilty to one count of theft in April 2017 on advice from her attorney. Hynes was sentenced to nine years in prison. She has since applied for post-conviction relief on the grounds of new evidence, as well as unqualified legal counsel. That request was withdrawn this May.
According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Hynes will remain in prison until April 2024.
The Victim
For the woman at the center of the allegations against Awad, her college years were a distant memory. Identified in court records only by the initials, E.U., she ventured to Lake Havasu City nearly 10 years prior for spring break. According to the police report, E.U. had little memory of Awad, and had no memory whatsoever of being the victim of a crime.
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 11.2 percent of all university students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence or incapacitation.
Sexual assault is a threat many women face at college campuses nationwide. Now living in Los Angeles, she was unaware of the alleged incident in Havasu – until the day investigators arrived at her door.
Federal agents spent nearly two years investigating the case as they attempted to locate the victim and ascertain her age at the time of the alleged assault. According to the police report, one photograph in Awad’s alleged collection contained a blurred image of the victim’s driver’s license, which was ultimately used to find her.
It was only when agents showed her the photographic evidence, retrieved from Awad’s hard drive, that the victim knew. The victim became visibly upset, the report said, as FBI agents asked her to identify herself in photographs allegedly depicting her disrobed and unconscious in Awad’s home as the crime took place. According to court records, the victim now believes Awad may have drugged her in preparation for the alleged crime.
She remembered meeting Awad at a Havasu bar, the police report said. She was brought to Awad’s home that evening, according to police, where she reportedly lost consciousness. The following morning, the victim woke in a friend’s motor home. She told police she received a phone call from Awad later that day, and told her she left belongings of hers at his home.
According to the police report, Awad told E.U. she had been intoxicated the evening prior, and attempted to steal money from the bar’s cash register. Awad allegedly told the victim he interceded to prevent her from facing legal trouble. The victim remembered being skeptical of Awad’s account, the report said, but collected her belongings before returning home.
Agents determined the victim was legally an adult when the alleged assault occurred, and turned the case against Awad over to the Lake Havasu City Police Department. Awad was taken into custody Nov. 17, 2017.
What’s Next?
Awad is scheduled to appear before Mohave County Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss Dec. 18 for judgment and sentencing on the charge of surreptitious photography.
Defense and prosecuting attorneys were unable to comment on the plea agreement or facts of the case prior to the Weiss’s disposition next month. (LINK)—11/07/2018
Havasu doctor accused of sexual assault to learn sentence Tuesday
- In plea agreement, Doctor Awad plead guilty to surreptitious photography
LAKE HAVASU CITY – Prosecutors are asking for three years of probation and one year in jail for a Lake Havasu City doctor accused in last year of sexual assault, sexual abuse and surreptitious photography.
Ayman Awad will be sentenced Tuesday after accepting a plea agreement from the Mohave County Attorney’s Office in November. He will plead guilty to surreptitious photography, and all other charges against him will be dismissed, according to court records. There is no stipulation in the agreement that Awad be sentenced as a sex offender, but Mohave County Deputy Attorney Megan McCoy urged Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss to consider applying Awad’s probation as such in a Dec. 5 sentencing memorandum.
“He took an unconscious young woman, sexually abused her and took pictures,” McCoy wrote. “Incarceration is necessary … supervised probation, with the imposition of court-mandated counseling and services, and a maximum on year term of jail is appropriate. The defendant is not a sex-offender in the plea, but that does not bar heightened supervision due to circumstances of the offense.”
The prosecution’s evidence lies in nearly 30 digital images found in an external hard drive at Awad’s place of business, Havasu Imaging Center. According to prosecutors, those images were created in May 2008, and allegedly depicted Awad in the act of sexually assaulting a nude, unconscious woman. These images were discovered by a former employee of Awad’s and turned over to the FBI in 2015.
Federal investigators searched for the victim, with their only lead being an image of her driver’s license in Awad’s alleged files. She was located in Los Angeles almost 10 years after the crime took place.
The victim’s identity is a matter of public record, but due to the nature of the alleged offense, she will not be identified in this story.
Finding Out
The victim remembers the arrival of FBI agents at her door in February 2016. They urgently needed to speak to her, they said.
“I had no idea what for until they mentioned Lake Havasu,” the victim wrote in a letter to Weiss last month. “I knew right then and there, something was very wrong. I have only been to Lake Havasu once, and I have been trying to put that trip out of my memory forever.”
She doesn’t remember meeting Awad during her vacation in Havasu. She doesn’t remember meeting him in a bar, or even knew who he was until he sent her a text message, the victim wrote.
“He texted me the following morning, saying he had my driver’s license,” the victim wrote. “I had no idea who he was, but I went to meet him the next morning with a friend. I met (Awad) at his car, and he retrieved my ID from his center console. He told me I had thrown up in his car, and that he rescued me from the bar because I tried to steal money from the bartender.”
The victim said she found Awad’s alleged story to be suspicious. When she went to retrieve her driver’s license from Awad, she saw no sign of vomit in his vehicle to corroborate his statement. She also said stealing is something she would never do, no matter how intoxicated.
“I knew what he was saying was a total lie,” the victim wrote. “I took my ID, thanked him, and quickly ran.”
The victim now believes Awad kept her ID for the deliberate purpose of luring her to a meeting the next day, where he would ascertain whether indeed she had no memory of the alleged assault.
“It sickens me to think how naïve I was, to not think more of this situation,” the victim wrote. “At 21, I was naïve, and sexual abuse was not something commonly spoken of or warned about. Why would I think a doctor, 30 years older than myself, could ever be capable of doing something so heinous to me?”
Federal agents informed the victim of the crime committed against her. Then they showed her the evidence.
“The first picture they showed was of me, lying on a white tile floor, with hair strewn across my face, clearly unconscious,” the victim said. According to the victim, she recognized the clothing she wore on the night of the offense.
“The second picture (investigators) pulled out was of me in the same pose, with my shirt pulled up, exposing my left breast. My skirt was up to my waist, exposing my underwear. His hand was groping my breast with a full grip.”
The remaining images would be more graphic, according to prosecutors. When FBI agents determined the victim was legally an adult when the alleged assault occurred, they turned the case against Awad over to the Lake Havasu City Police Department.
“After dropping this enormous bomb on me, telling me that a doctor had digitally raped me eight years ago, they left me dumbfounded, sitting on a stool, completely paralyzed,” the victim wrote.
“I went back up to my home and my boyfriend cried ourselves to sleep that night … the morning after the FBI visited me, I went to work at 8 a.m. I had no choice, because I run my own business. I was too distracted to do my job and I couldn’t wait for it to be over because all I desperately wanted to do was speak with my family.”
She called her parents on Facetime as soon as she was able, and told them.
“Think of all the times you may have seen your father cry,” the victim wrote. “I had only seen my father cry twice in my whole life … when shared with them the horrifying news the FBI told me, it broke my father’s heart. I have never seen my father cry so hard in my entire life.”
Pursuing Justice
Awad was arrested Nov. 17, 2017, on charges of sexual assault, sexual abuse and surreptitious photography. Separate booking documents from the same date also show that was charged with possession of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
At the time of Awad’s arrest, a single diazepam pill was found in one of his pockets, according to police records. According to the police report, he did not possess a prescription for the pill, but said he often provided such medication to patients to help them relax.
The victim remembers a female Los Angeles Police Officers speaking to her as charges against Awad were being pursued.
“I was not about to let this man get away with what he did, especially when I had pictures to prove it. Ayman Awad is a doctor who has taken the Hippocratic oath, to never do harm to another person. He has violated this oath and made a mockery of it … His harm is life-changing, life-lasting and clearly an insult to many of those who have taken the same oath.”
According to the victim, she has fought for almost three years to bring Awad to justice. While she wasn’t pleased with the plea agreement offered to Awad, she wrote to Mohave County Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss in the hope that it would impact his sentencing decision next week.
An Act Out of Character
Defense attorneys Michael Wozniak, of Kingman-based Whitney & Whitney Law Office, and Phoenix-based attorney Jason Lamm, submitted their own sentencing memorandum on Awad’s behalf on Friday.
According to Awad’s attorneys, the spring of 2008 was perhaps the most difficult time of the defendant’s life. He was in the midst of a tumultuous divorce, while simultaneously grieving the death of his brother. His stress led him to self-medicate, his attorneys said, which led to a 2010 DUI conviction. Awad’s alleged crime against the victim was aberrant behavior – a deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life, his attorneys said.
Twelve acquaintances of Awad’s wrote to Weiss, expressing surprise at the accusation. To each, such an act is wholly out of character for a man they’ve known for decades.
“The offense represents isolated conduct that happened more than 10 years ago,” Awad’s attorneys said. “If the defendant was a sex offender or some other threat to the community, it would have come to light through other criminal behavior. Not only has the defendant maintained a productive lifestyle, he has meaningfully contributed to the community and proven himself to be an individual who is loyal to and supportive of his family.”
‘The Man I Know’
Lake Havasu City oncologist Paul O’Neill has known Awad for 18 years. They’ve celebrated holidays and birthdays at each other’s homes, O’Neill said, or simply paid each other social visits. O’Neill served as one character witness in Awad’s case.
“I am astounded by these accusations,” O’Neill wrote to Mohave County Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss last month. “This is far beyond the reality of the man I have come to know and very inconsistent with this man’s character.”
Awad has been a steadfast friend, full of genuine and invaluable advice, O’Neill said.
“He is committed to serving his community through excellence as a diagnostic radiologist, and often goes way beyond the extra mile for patients in need,” O’Neill wrote. “I understand the distressing circumstances that Dr. Awad faces. He has expressed his deepest fears about the ramifications of such a charge, particularly its grave repercussions for his family and career. I am confident in my assessment of him and I believe he will continue to be a valuable member of society.”
Havasu resident Gail Kulp once worked for Awad as a medical transcriptionist. She described him as a supportive, patient and helpful employer.
“That is not the man I know,” Kulp said. “It is completely out of character. I was diagnosed with breast cancer during my employment with Dr. Awad. He was instrumental in getting, and helping me to understand the kind of care that I needed. He worked with me on my work hours during the chemotherapy and radiation therapy I was receiving at the time. His kindness and understanding of my needs was very instrumental in my empowerment to get better … I cannot say enough kind and supportive words about his character, always being a professional and special person. He will remain my friend forever.”
Two Versions of a Man
Awad had a favorable reputation as a physician in Havasu, according to his son, Nicola Awad. He would never turn away a person in need, regardless of their ability to pay.
“People were given a fighting chance thanks to his practice,” Nicola Awad said. “People were turned away and refused at other facilities, but my father was the vigilant hero thousands depended on. My father created a legacy in Lake Havasu City, one that would earn respect and gratitude by the simple utterance of our last name.”
According to Nicola, however, it is difficult to reconcile the two versions of a man he’s known his entire life – the version who raised him, and the version described by Mohave County prosecutors.
“The man I have known my entire life and shared many experiences with throughout the years is not capable of carrying out these egregious accusations.”
Awad’s daughter, Noel Awad, is approximately the same age as his alleged victim. She knows only a kind, loving individual, she told Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss this month.
“On no occasion during my childhood or adult life has he exhibited impulsive or immodest behaviors that would otherwise be injurious to another human being,” Noel said. “This man has dedicated his life to the noble cause of treating and caring for the human existence … This is a serious offense in both the eyes of the law and any ethical or moral human being. The man I know to be my father and the man sitting on trial for this crime are at great odds with one another.”
An Aberration
According to Awad’s attorneys, federal courts have recognized aberrant conduct as a mitigating factor in sentencing, and one to be considered by Weiss next week. Awad has never been accused of any other felony before or since the accusations against him were made.
Although Awad will plead guilty to the offense of surreptitious photography, attorney Mike Wozniak made clear Friday afternoon that Awad denies sexual motivation in the offense.
“The allegation of sexual motivation has been dismissed,” Wozniak said. “Doctor Awad is not a sexual deviant and denies that the charge he pleaded to was motivated by any such deviancy. While he stands by the stipulated factual basis of the plea agreement, the resolution in Doctor Awad’s case was by its very nature a compromise, and should not be viewed as a concession by Doctor Awad that he is a danger to our community.” (LINK)—12/16/2018
