Fake doctor pleads no contest, sentenced

By Jason Green

REDWOOD CITY — The former head of security at Sequoia Hospital was sentenced Tuesday to one year in county jail for sexually assaulting two women he lured to his workplace under the guise of providing physical exams so they could work as models, prosecutors said.

In October, Garry Chow, 35, of Modesto, pleaded no contest to one count of felony sexual penetration and one count of felony attempted sexual battery.

Prosecutors wanted San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Donald Ayoob to give Chow three years in state prison. Ayoob, who called the crime “unsophisticated and delusional,” instead sentenced Chow to one year in county jail, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

“We vehemently disagree that this was an ‘unsophisticated and delusional’ crime, and we disagree that he is a low risk to re-offend,” Wagstaffe said. “We believe our court expert who said he poses a moderate to high risk, which is why we recommended state prison.”

Chow’s private defense attorney James Dunn could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutors said Chow posed as a modeling agent and contacted his victims through Craigslist ads. He reportedly told them a physical exam was required and directed them to Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City.

At the hospital, Chow represented himself as “Dr. Chen” and took the victims to a parking garage, where he sexually assaulted them and demanded $200 for the “exams,” according to prosecutors. The victims figured out the scheme and contacted authorities.

In addition to one year in jail, Chow was ordered to serve five years of supervised probation and register as a sex offender. Chow, who was remanded into custody and has one day credit for time served, could avoid spending time behind bars if his probation officer approves his transfer to a residential treatment program, Wagstaffe said.