A Florida doctor with two convictions involving sexual misconduct still has his license
A jury found Jacksonville Dr. Om Kapoor guilty in 2021 of exposing himself after a patient said the doctor masturbated during an exam. Kapoor pleaded guilty to a felony battery charge in March after a child said Kapoor forced oral sex on him in 2017.
Om Parkash Kapoor is on probation, doesn’t have to register as a sex offender and still has a license to practice in Florida.
The only restriction on Kapoor, 53, comes from the emergency restriction order (ERO) that came down on Feb. 1, 2018, after the masturbation accusation. That order requires another licensed healthcare professional must be “physically present at all times when Dr. Kapoor is interacting with male patients.”
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The Florida Department of Health filed two administrative complaints against Kapoor on June 9, the move that usually starts the discipline process. Kapoor already had a complaint pending from the exposure conviction.
One complaint addressed the felony battery conviction. The other complaint reacted to Kapoor surrendering his license in New York rather than go through that state’s disciplinary process after the exposure conviction. The complaint says New York’s consent order accepting Kapoor giving up his license still counts as New York acting against the license, thus putting Kapoor in violation of Florida statutes.
History of the doctor
Kapoor’s New York and Florida license online profiles say he graduated from India’s Dayanand Medical School in February 1995. Kapoor became licensed in New York on Sept. 9, 2004, then spent February 2006 to February 2008 at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York on an infectious disease fellowship. He gained his Florida license on April 10, 2008.
The American Board of Internal Medicine website says Kapoor was board certified in internal medicine in 2007 and infectious disease in 2009, but is no longer certified in the latter.
Though no disciplinary action soiled Kapoor’s license before the first accusation, the ensuing 2018 ERO said: “In 2012, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) received a report from the Baptist Medical Center’s Risk Manager alleging Dr. Kapoor engaged in sexual misconduct with a 20-year-old male patient. This matter was not reported to the Department of Health.”
No arrests were made in the alleged 2012 misconduct.
Examination
The emergency restriction order said on Dec. 14, 2017, Kapoor told a patient that the man had tested positive again for Lyme disease, a disease carried by ticks, and another examination was necessary. The man told that Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office that Kapoor told him to strip, lean over an examination table and spread his legs so Kapoor could do a thorough examination
The arrest affidavit says the patient’s screams didn’t halt Kapoor’s masturbation. But the patient cannily retrieved a soiled napkin from the trash can and ferried it with him to the sheriff’s office.
The restriction order posted Feb. 1, 2018. Over three years later, on Sept. 9, 2021, a jury acquitted Kapoor of misdemeanor battery and convicted him of misdemeanor exposure of sexual organs. He was kept in Duval County jail until his Oct. 8, 2021, sentencing to 12 months in county jail with credit for 30 days served.
On April 24, Kapoor filed a motion for a new trial, citing “ineffective counsel” by Nah-Deh E.W. Simmons, who would be investigated by the Florida Bar over his conduct during one of this trial’s hearings. That motion is still pending.
A sleepover and ice cream for breakfast?
While the masturbation case was being resolved, a preteen went to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in 2020 to tell special assault unit detectives about a 2017 sleepover at the Kapoor house, when he was 9. The Kapoor family — the doctor, his wife and son — were friends of the boy’s family.
The arrest affidavit said the boy told detectives while he was in bed, he heard Kapoor come into the bedroom. The boy said Kapoor got into bed with him boy, pulled his own underwear down, and raped him. After two minutes, the boy said, he faked awakening from a nightmare to scare Kapoor away. He said he saw Kapoor exposed as the doctor scrambled out of the room, his cell phone and keys falling to the floor.
The boy said he returned the cellphone and keys the next morning, showing Kapoor where they’d fallen. The arrest affidavit said Kapoor didn’t mention the phone, the keys or anything that had happened, “however, suspect Kapoor offered the boy a large bowl of ice cream for breakfast.”
Kapoor pleaded guilty to felony battery. The sexual battery charge was dropped. Kapoor was sentenced in March to three years’ probation, to end March 24, 2026.
He’s also not required to register as a sex offender.
