By News Desk

A GP who intended to rape a 10-year-old girl and travelled miles with hopes to commit the heinous act has been struck off the medical register, just a few months after he was sentenced by a court.

Rupesh Seth was sentenced to three years and three months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to arranging the commission of a child sex offence. He appeared at Guildford Crown Court on 3 March, 2023, following an investigation by Surrey Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team and the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit.

On 12 November 2020, Seth, then 36, of Filleul Road, Wareham, Dorset, a practising GP at the time, travelled from Dorset to Egham in order to meet an adult and sexually abuse the adult’s 10-year-old daughter.

Police attended and he was arrested on suspicion of attempting to arrange and facilitate the commission of a child sex offence.

Seth’s behaviour was deemed to be “fundamentally incompatible with being a doctor”.

A medical tribunal panel said that the former doctor’s actions were “deplorable”, with a ban on working in medicine the only way to “sufficiently protect, promote and maintain the health, safety and wellbeing of the public” and keep up public confidence in the profession.

After Seth’s arrest, his phones were seized and indecent images of children were found. He was further arrested and subsequently charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty to all the charges when he appeared at Guildford Magistrates’ Court on 14 November, 2020 and was suspended from practice following his arrest.

The General Medical Council (GMC) representative Georgina Goring said that the doctor’s actions “did not involve a single act but related to conduct which took place over a prolonged period, reflecting serious behavioural and attitudinal issues”, Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) documents mentioned.

Seth used encrypted chat applications to engage in discussions related to child sexual abuse and coordinated the sexual assault of the girl through contact with an individual he met online. It has been reported that this individual was, in fact, an undercover law enforcement officer.

Furthermore, the tribunal was informed that among the 41 indecent images discovered on Seth’s two mobile devices, 27 of them were classified as the most severe category A, depicting the most egregious level of explicit content.

Seth, who graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2008, reportedly admitted to law enforcement officers that he had developed an addiction to indecent images of children and admitted that he needed help, as stated by tribunal chairwoman Ogheneruona Iguyovwe in the panel’s decision.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Andy Grimwood said after his arrest in March this year: “This was a joint operation conducted with the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit and thankfully, during this investigation, there was never a real life victim and no children were ever in any danger. This is a really good example of the way we can work in collaboration to ensure that offenders are identified and dealt with.

“This led to us uncovering images on Seth’s phone which showed that he had an extremely active interest in indecent photos and videos of children. Obviously, this is of huge concern, particularly given his position of trust as a practising GP, and we ensured that we linked in with our partner healthcare agencies to ensure that any appropriate safeguarding measures could be put in place.

“I would also like to stress that the offence he was charged with did not involve any of his patients.

“Surrey Police is committed to fully investigating all offences of this nature and will always follow every line of enquiry to ensure that suspects are identified, located and brought to justice.”

Detective Inspector James Oxley, of the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), said: “I am pleased that Rupesh Seth recognised his guilt and, as a result, was convicted of these offences. By working closely with Surrey Police and other police forces in the South East, our specialist officers are able to ensure offenders such as Seth are brought before the courts, keeping children safe from harm.”

Seth was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

For further support and advice, please contact the National Association for People Abused in Childhood https://napac.org.uk/

If you have concerns about your online behaviour, please contact The Lucy Faithfull Foundation at https://www.stopitnow.org.uk/how-we-prevent-child-sexual-abuse/the-lucy-faithfull-foundation/