A court case is underway in Vermont after police charged a man with impersonating a doctor to trick a female college student into consenting to a pelvic exam.
Nam Vu Bui, 31, of Houston, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to sexual assault, voyeurism, illegal practice of medicine and possession of child pornography.
“He represented [that] he could determine whether a woman had cervical or breast cancer, and as such, he played on some of the gravest fears that a young woman might have,” prosecutor Dennis Wygmans told the court Tuesday.
Detectives with the Middlebury Police Department allege Nam impersonated a doctor or medical official in order to convince a Middlebury College student to submit to a pelvic exam.
According to police, Nam claimed he was a medical resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, where he said he was studying early detection of cancer in women.
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In fact he was not a licensed doctor, was not an employee or associate of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, and was not conducting any medical research in association with the center according to court.
“It’s rare that we have someone alleged to have been posing as a medical professional, or otherwise, in order to commit the types of acts alleged in these cases,” Wygmans said in a brief interview with the Addison County Independent following court proceedings Tuesday.
Instead, police allege Nam convinced a Middlebury College student that he was doing research into Human papillomavirus (HPV). According to The Associated Press, Bui asked her to submit to a pelvic exam in order to further his research. He offered payment of between US$500 and US$1,000 for participants in his study.
The woman agreed to submit to the test, which would take place in her dorm room.
“Nam explained that he would be blindfolded during the procedure and I asked him how that would work,” the woman, whose name is being withheld, told a detective according to court documents. “He said he had a lot of practice with dummies at the hospital and he could easily do it blindfolded.”
The woman told police that she became more worried when Nam’s medical equipment “did not look legit.” The woman claims Nam then asked her to wear a blindfold as well “because of some sort of radiation.”
The woman told police she eventually peeked out from behind her blindfold to discover Nam, no longer wearing pants, was recording her genitals on a cellphone.
“I feel very violated by this event, he took advantage of me and my trust,” the victim told police.
The incident occurred in September. Nam was arrested on Oct. 18.
He faces a total of 10 charges: four misdemeanor charges of voyeurism; one felony charge of sexual assault without consent; three misdemeanor charges of practice or illegal advertising of medicine; and two misdemeanor charges of possession of child pornography.
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The morning of the arrest, Middlebury College administrators sent a campus-wide email to all students acknowledging they were aware of the incident.
“Middlebury College takes these charges very seriously and we are cooperating with the Middlebury Police Department,” the statement reads. “We are conducting our own investigation into the circumstances of Nam Vu Bui’s presence on campus. Our priority is ensuring the safety of our campus, and providing resources and support for members of our community.”
Nam’s attorney, Lisa Shelkrot, argued that the allegation of rape is difficult to prove in this case.
“The consent question here is a complicated one,” Shelkrot said. “It’s not an immediate, obvious lack of consent.”
“On its face, the complainant here consented. And that’s a situation where the court is going to have to make a much more searching inquiry as to whether there was deception, whether the deception was deliberate, and whether the deception was material to the consent that was given.”
Meanwhile, police in Middlebury are reaching out to other jurisdictions, including police in Nam’s hometown of Houston to see if there are any other similar incidents.
“It’s always good to check on someone’s credentials before you agree to do anything with them,” Wygmans told the Addison County Independent. “Make sure they are who they say they are.”
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