DENTIST STRUCK OFF FOR GROOMING TEEN GIRL
A dental professional, Richard Prais, has been found guilty of engaging in inappropriate and sexually explicit communications with a 13-year-old girl.Prais, who operated Prais Dental Care in Lyttelton Road, Hampstead Garden Suburb, was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for 12 months, at Harrow Crown Court on October 29, 2021.
He previously admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a minor in a magistrates' court.
Police evidence indicated Prais deleted an app from his phone following a dawn raid when he and his wife refused entry to their home on Winnington Road.
The General Dental Council (GDC) suspended him for 15 months after his guilty plea, with a review scheduled six months later, and he has now been disqualified from practicing dentistry.
During a GDC hearing on September 26 and 27, it was detailed that Prais was involved in exchanging online messages with a girl he believed to be 13, requesting her to 'show me your body' and suggesting 'we need to send naughty pics,' including explicit language such as 'do you want to see my c***.' The exchanges lasted eight days, during which Prais also sent a nude image of himself.
Prais claimed he did not believe the girl was 13, but the GDC committee rejected this, citing a message he sent asking, 'are you really 13?' and responding 'yeah why' when she confirmed her age, with him replying 'let's get naughty' and 'we need to send each other naughty pics.' He expressed remorse and attributed his actions to 'considerable stresses' in his life, asserting it was a 'one-off' incident.
However, the GDC’s counsel emphasized that Prais's actions constituted 'child grooming and child abuse.' Prais denied knowing the girl was 13 and claimed that his motives were not sexual, which the committee did not accept, stating, 'You have repeatedly apologised for your conduct and referred to your behaviour as vile and repugnant.
However, to date, you have failed to accept the core component of your wrongdoing, namely that your communication with a person pertaining to be 13 years old was for sexual gratification.' The committee concluded that Prais has not shown true remorse and is therefore not suitable to remain in the profession.
He has 28 days to appeal the decision.
