PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — At the 52nd District Court in Oakland County, a probable cause hearing was held today for Rochester Hills-based physician Dr. Oumair Aejaz, who has been accused of preying on women and children, filming them using hidden cameras. The 40-year-old appeared over Zoom with his attorney, who raised issues with how the case has been handled so far.
"Quite frankly, the Sheriff stated that Dr. Aejaz is guilty," said Mariell Lehman, defense attorney.
Lehman referred to the statements made by Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard during last week's press conference, calling the internal medicine doctor one of the worst sex offenders he has ever seen.
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"A woman is, basically, unconscious in a hospital bed, and he is violating her, to a two-year-old, thinking they are out for a great swim day, and they are being captured naked," said Sheriff Bouchard.
"Your honor, the statements made by the prosecution and the sheriff's office essentially eroded Dr. Aejaz's constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," said Lehman.
Lehman asked the court to prevent the prosecution and the sheriff's office from making further statements regarding the case. Lehman also flagged that not enough time was given to her to review the partial evidence sent by the prosecution this morning, including 141 pages of documents.
"There is quite a lot of material here," said the prosecution team.
Last week, Sheriff Bouchard said during the arrest, 6 computers, 4 cellular phones, and 15 external storage devices were confiscated.
"Just one of the hard drives has 13,000 videos, and the other potential there also might be cloud storage," said Sheriff Bouchard.
Bouchard also says without the doctor's wife coming forward with evidence, the crime would not have come to light that may have been going on for over six years.
Court documents show that Aejaz's wife filed for divorce back in June. After Aejaz was charged, his wife was granted sole custody of their two minor children and sole possession of their home.
"This level of education, and has everything, why are they doing this to people?" said Rochester Hills resident Linda Sadek.
Sadik's home is on the same street as Aejaz's house in Rochester Hills. The mother of two was in disbelief when she read about what happened.
"What were some of the questions going through your mind?" asked Faraz Javed, 7 News Detroit reporter.
"Is he sick or not? Is he okay? All this street is filled with kids," said Sadik.
Aejaz was arraigned on Aug. 13 and charged with ten felony counts:
- One count of child sexually abusive activity.
- One count of using a computer to create and or reproduce child sexually abusive material.
- Two counts of capturing/recording children under the age of 18 while nude.
- Two counts of capturing/recording two women over the age of 18 while nude.
- Four counts of using a computer to commit a crime.
Aejaz moved to Michigan in 2011 for his internship. He completed his residency at Detroit Sinai Grace Hospital and then moved to Dawson, Ala. Aejaz returned to Oakland County to continue his practice in internal medicine in 2018.
Bouchard believed the geographic scope of the investigation to increase beyond Genesee and Macomb counties, where the hospitals are located, and may include other states or countries, depending on where Aejaz worked. That's why the Sheriff's office has set up a dedicated email for victims and anyone with information to come forward: OCSOSIU@oakgov.com.
Meanwhile, the next court date is scheduled for September 16, and Aejaz's 2-million-dollar bond and its conditions stay in place.
