Sparta Resident Gets Probation for Fondling Patient

A Sparta resident with a physician's practice in Wayne has received four years of probation after admitting he fondled a patient’s breasts while treating her for back problems.

Leonard Joachim, 58, received a suspended 18-month prison sentence last week and probation as part of a plea deal, NorthJersey.com reported.

Joachim was arrested in September 2011 after a joint investigation by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and the Wayne Police Department.

The assault occurred when Joachim was treating a female patient on Aug. 31, 2011 at his Hamburg Turnpike office, the prosecutor’s office announced at the time of the arrest.

Joachim said in court that the patient did not ask to be kissed or fondled and that he thought he “had permission,” to kiss her, the website reported.

Joachim was sentenced to seven years of probation and was required to have a chaperone present when treating female patients after he pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact in 1995, the website reported. The restriction was lifted in 1997.

Joachim’s license to practice medicine may be revoked. The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners suspended his license after he was a arrested.

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