A radiologist who has worked in Australia after fleeing child sex charges in the US has been barred from practising medicine in New Zealand.
Guardian Australia revealed earlier this month that Max Mehta, who changed his name by deed poll to Robert Taylor in 2007, has worked as a radiologist in Victoria and New South Wales since 2009. The Medical Board of Australia has begun an “immediate action process” against Mehta.
Mehta was charged in Dallas, Texas, in May 2004 for allegedly grooming a 15-year-old deaf girl – actually a police officer posing as a child – for sex in an online chat room. He then skipped bail before restarting his career in New Zealand and then Australia.
The Medical Council of New Zealand has said that Mehta will no longer be able to work in the country. He was previously employed as an offsite radiologist by the Tairawhiti district health board until earlier this year.
“He can’t practice here now, we’ve removed him from the register at this point,” Andrew Connolly, chairman of the Medical Council of New Zealand, told the NZ Herald.
“But if it turned out that this is just a terrible case of mistaken identity then he can always reapply. But as it currently stands, if what we’re told is correct, then this guy’s got serious questions to answer about not only his conduct in America, but also misleading various agencies [here].”
Connolly said a review will be conducted on how Mehta was granted registration as a radiologist in New Zealand, but added that there have been no complaints as to his conduct with patients.
Mehta, 45, has agreed not to practise medicine until he is investigated by the body responsible for regulating doctors. Last week, the Medical Board of Australia began an “immediate action process” against Mehta.
The warrant for his arrest in the US remains active and the United States Marshals Service for the Northern District of Texas has sought an international arrest warrant so Mehta can be apprehended and extradited for criminal prosecution.
Mehta never disclosed his name change or the outstanding US criminal charge when applying for work in Australia. Because he never faced court, the charge had not been recorded on his official documents.
In January last year, Mehta was found to have forged signatures on multiple medical certification documents. He was ordered to complete a six-hour ethics course.
