A woman who said she is a former patient of a local OB-GYN accused of sexual assaulting several of his patients spoke only to FOX13 – and revealed her history of being assaulted by him.
In 2016 a woman – who FOX13 chose not to identify – said Dr. Gregory Norwood sexually assaulted her during a checkup.
“It was like he wanted to touch me, so he can feel some type of feeling,” the woman said.
The woman said Baptist DeSoto Hospital assigned Norwood to be her obstetrician gynecologist. She shared documents with FOX13 showing Norwood did treat her.
Norwood practiced in north Mississippi for nearly 15 years.
In the beginning she said she thought of Norwood to be one of the best OB-GYN’s she’s been treated by.
“He was very caring, very caring. Even to the touch he was very gentle. When you find a doctor like that you want to keep him,” the woman said.
However, the woman said on her last visit with Norwood, he examined her with no nurse in the room.
“Maybe he told her not to come in because she came after, she knew we were in there. I felt kind of weird because he started touching more than what he was supposed to be touching,” the woman said.
The woman said the inappropriate touching from the doctor happened in front of her son.
“While this is going on he’s telling my son, ‘I’m just checking your mom to see to make sure she is okay,'” the woman said.
Attorney Aaron Neglia represents more than 10 other women who are accusing Norwood of sexually assaulting them.
“Two positives of this whole incident is he’ll never practice medicine again and he’s been indicted by the DeSoto County grand jury, and he’ll do a lot of jail time,” Neglia said.
A grand jury indicted Gregory Norwood on Wednesday. He turned himself in to authorities Thursday and is facing 12 counts of sexual battery.
Background info on the allegations:
In the first allegation, a patient said she was sexually assaulted by Dr. Norwood during a physical exam.
The claim stemmed from an alleged incident in 2016.
A year later, the executive committee of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure took no action, but they did continue the investigation.
On November 5, the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure received the license order. It was accepted and approved by the board on November 29.
In December 2017, the board said it had to terminate the investigation “due to the fact the allegation could not be substantiated at the time.”
Months later in July 2018, a patient at Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto filed a sexual assault complaint against the same doctor.
A second investigation began. This time the board found at least two other patients, bringing the total to four, who reported sexual assault allegations against Dr. Norwood.
His license was suspended for an indefinite period of time with no stay of the suspension.
After one year from the execution of the order, Norwood can petition the board for reinstatement of his license, but that does not guarantee it will be reinstated.
Norwood would be subject to comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment or evaluation for the purpose of determining his fitness to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients.