Alleged Sexual Assault Victim Speaks

A patient said the doctor assaulted her in his exam room.

Ediwn Njoku, the East Hartford doctor arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a patient in his exam room, remains in jail after facing a judge on Wednesday.

Njoku was charged with sexual assault in the first degree, two counts of sexual assault in the fourth degree, bribery of a witness and unlawful restraint in the first degree.

Investigators are working around the clock to find potential victims. Police tell NBC Connecticut they have no doubt he attacked the woman who prompted the criminal investigation.

“He is very dangerous,” said Anolan Drago, the alleged victim who turned him in last October.

She told police that she had gone to see Dr. Njoku, an internist, and he forcefully had sexual intercourse with her against her will in his examination room.

“He grabbed my breast and I pushed him away. I said, 'What are you doing?” Drago said.

She claimed that’s when Dr. Njoku got more aggressive, took off her clothes and beat her up.

“I felt so violated. I don’t trust doctors no more,” Drago said.

When Drago finally escaped the building, she said she took a bus to Hartford Hospital and made the complaint.

Court documents say an exam showed Dr. Njoku’s DNA was found on her body.

Investigators told NBC Connecticut that Njoku has denied everything.

“Somebody’s got to speak out, how many women has he molested? How many women has he raped and they didn’t speak up or say anything and didn’t call the cops,” Drago said.

When Dr. Njoku learned that his patient made a complaint, he contacted her, in an apparent attempt to get her to withdraw her complaint, police said.

The case against Dr. Njoku has East Hartford Police working overtime.

Over 24 hours, nearly two dozen victims called their office with a very similar story to tell, police said.

“It's apparent the doctor victimized people. He targeted people who were vulnerable, and he used different means to leverage them so he could take advantage of them,” said Lt. Curt Stoldt.

Police added they will hold Dr. Njoku accountable for his alleged wrongdoing, and the pain he might have caused for women who trusted they would be safe in his care. 

Dr. Njoku has other offices in Windsor and Hartford. Police in Hartford said he’s a suspect in another case, where a patient claimed she was attacked in 2009. 

Police said further charges are pending completion of investigation.

Officials from Christus Medical Group have not commented.

When the doctor appeared in court, several people were there to support him, including patients.

One of the doctor's friends said he does not believe the allegations.

"(H)e helps everybody. We need to know the truth. I'm very surprised, unless he tells me himself," Germaine Mama said.

Njoku has had a license to practice medicine in the state since Nov. 30, 2000, according to records from the state, and has offices in East Hartford, Hartford and Windsor.

Njoku is due back in court on Feb. 28.

The arrest warrant lists a second victim as "Jane Doe," who filed a complaint in March 2009 saying that the doctor pulled her pants down during a back exam and touched her inappropriately. Hartford police are investigating.

Police ask anyone with information to call the police department that has jurisdiction where the incident occurred, or call Sergeant Jim Leonard of the East Hartford Police Department Criminal Investigation’s Division 860-291-7590, or the East Hartford Police Department’s confidential crime tip line: 860-289-9134. 

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