Doctor Who Groped Unconscious Female Patients In Riverside County Avoids Prison With Plea Deal

RIVERSIDE, CA — A physician and operator of a Riverside skin care clinic who groped three female patients pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor charges and was immediately sentenced to probation.

Dr. Sam Sannoufi, 55, of Newport Beach, admitted three counts of sexual battery on an unconscious person under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors dropped nine related felony counts against Sannoufi.

The plea deal was announced just as the defendant's case was called for trial at the Riverside Hall of Justice Monday. Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam certified the terms of the agreement and imposed a two-year term of probation on Sannoufi. She additionally ordered him to register as a sex offender, disqualifying him from continuing to use his medical license, and directed that the defendant pay victim restitution in amounts to be determined by the Department of Probation.

The judge lastly signed criminal protective orders for the benefit of the three victims, identified only as "C.F.," "J.V." and "K.T."

Sannoufi was arrested following a 2023 investigation by the Riverside Police Department. He has been free on a $1 million bond since that time.

The defendant was taken into custody for the first time on June 27, 2023, in connection with an earlier investigation involving a woman who had visited his Timeless Skincare Laser Clinic Primary Care at 6900 Brockton Ave.

"The investigation continued, and additional victims (came) forward with similar allegations they were sexually assaulted by Dr. Sannoufi," former Riverside police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback said at the time.

Court documents stated C.F. reported she was assaulted in 2017. The second victim was assaulted in March and June 2021. The last victim, K.T., was assaulted on June 12, 2023, according to the criminal complaint.

Railsback said the latter victim contacted the agency's Sexual Assault- Child Abuse Unit soon afterward, saying she was assaulted during a consultation.

SACA detectives gathered sufficient evidence to obtain an arrest warrant, and Sannoufi was summoned to the department's Orange Street station, where he was taken into custody for a second time without incident. He posted the $1 million bond and was released from the downtown Riverside jail a couple hours later.

Sannoufi had no documented prior misdemeanor or felony convictions in Riverside County.

According to the Medical Board of California, the defendant had been a licensed doctor in the state since March 2009. He's a graduate of the Ukrainian State Medical University in Kiev and had no previous disciplinary actions, administrative citations or malpractice suits on file with regulators in California.