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Cameras permitted for suspended doctor's sex assault trial

A Kane County judge did not impose any additional restrictions Thursday on cameras in the courtroom for a Geneva doctor accused of sexually assaulting one of his patients in 2012.

The attorney for Mark G. Lewis, 55, formerly of St. Charles and now of the 2200 block of Blackberry Drive, Geneva, asked the judge to admonish the media from trying to interview Lewis in the courtroom or hallway outside of court.

Kane County Judge John Barsanti declined to draw up rules for the courtroom hallway, though.

Last year, Kane County court officials opted to allow cameras in courtrooms. Requests must be approved by a judge and pictures and video of jurors and sexual assault victims are forbidden, for example.

Lewis was arrested in July on charges he sexually assaulted a woman Nov. 16, 2012, while she slept at his then St. Charles home on the 0-99 block of Squire Lane.

The woman sued Lewis last year in civil court and the case was settled out of court in the spring.

In the lawsuit, the woman said she woke up at 4 a.m. to find Lewis next to her with his shirt off.

The woman, whose pants had been removed, was told by Lewis she urinated in the bed and he removed her clothes, according to the lawsuit. The woman suspected she'd been assaulted and went to police. She was a patient of Lewis' and was sleeping at his home because her boyfriend's mother was romantically involved with Lewis, the suit stated.

The state's Department of Professional Regulation suspended Lewis' license over the summer for "sexually inappropriate conduct with multiple clients of his practice, as well as inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances to numerous individuals."

After the suspension, an indictment charging Lewis with sexual assault was unsealed and he was arrested in early July.

If the case goes to trial, prosecutors plan to call three forensic experts from the Illinois State Crime Lab as well as two investigators from the state's Department of Professional Regulation, according to court records.

"The people will rely on prior acts or convictions of the defendants of a similar nature for proof of knowledge, intent, motive, scheme, or design, if applicable," prosecutors wrote in court filings.

Lewis, who is free on bond, is next due in court Oct. 30.

If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison and must register as a sex offender.

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