Jury: Weston doctor guilty of sexual battery

A Weston doctor who made a house call for a 19-year-old Davie woman in 2014 was convicted Wednesday of trying to perform a sex act on her.

Jerry Ciocon, 62, faces up to 15 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of sexual battery. The victim told the jury on Tuesday that she called the doctor because he was a family friend who had provided medical help for her family in the past.

The woman complained she had a vaginal cyst, and Ciocon showed up at her home on Aug. 3, 2014, to remove it. The woman’s sister and her grandmother were home at the time, though the sister was sleeping.

According to the woman’s testimony and the closing arguments of lawyers on both sides of the case, Ciocon and the woman agreed to go into the woman’s bedroom, where the woman removed her clothing so Ciocon could examine her and remove the cyst.

But the woman said she was surprised when the doctor started to molest her. She ordered him to stop and he did.

Defense lawyer Michael Gottlieb portrayed Ciocon’s action as stemming from his mistaken interpretation of the victim’s body language.

“There were no threats,” Gottlieb said. “He was performing a medical procedure and, from his perspective, she became sexually aroused. He misread her body language.”

After the woman reported the incident to police, detectives recorded them during a phone call. During that call, which was played for the jury, the woman confronted Ciocon, and he apologized for his actions.

Gottlieb said Wednesday the apology was for misinterpreting what she wanted, not an admission of criminal responsibility.

Ciocon did not say during the call that he thought the woman would welcome the advance, prosecutor Patyl Oflazian noted.

The jury deliberated for 15 minutes before returning its guilty verdict. Sentencing by Broward Circuit Judge Dennis Bailey is scheduled for Aug. 25.