Former Twin Cities plastic surgeon charged with sex crimes
A Twin Cities plastic surgeon who had his medical license revoked by state regulators earlier this year is facing criminal charges in connection with his alleged sexual conduct towards patients.
Prosecutors in Hennepin County on Tuesday charged Christopher J. Kovanda, 56, of Minneapolis, with two counts of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the alleged incidents.
The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice revoked Kovanda's license in August and imposed a $15,360 civil penalty related to the investigation into his conduct.
According to charges filed Tuesday, prosecutors intend to introduce evidence from alleged incidents dating back as far as 2008 to demonstrate a "scheme or plan to inappropriately touching women who came to him as patients" under the guise of providing medical care.
In one alleged incident from last year, Kovanda is accused of becoming aroused and rubbing his groin area against a patient's feet while she waited, with an IV in her arm, to be marked for surgery at his office in Edina.
According to criminal charges, Kovanda allegedly ordered the nurse to leave the room and then grabbed the patient's buttocks and lower back to pull her closer to him before he began to rub his groin over her underwear.
The second count in Tuesday's criminal charges relate to Kovanda's alleged conduct with another patient, who told police Kovanda on three occasions had her completely undress. Kovanda is accused of inappropriately touching the victim in all three incidents.
Kovanda's last clinic was located on Excelsior Avenue in Minneapolis, and he previously practiced in Maple Grove, in the 50th & France retail district of Edina as Kovanda Plastic Surgery, and before that as a partner at Midwest Plastic Surgery in the Southdale Medical Building, according to the Star Tribune.
