A Connecticut doctor accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl for years told a judge Thursday he shouldn’t be jailed because he needs to fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Connecticut Post. Dr. Stanley Davidson, a 39-year-old clinical respiratory supervisor at Danbury Hospital, was charged Thursday with second-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer. He allegedly sexually assaulted a girl for four years, beginning when she was 12. In his bond hearing Thursday, Davidson said his hospital was currently treating one man diagnosed with the 2019 novel coronavirus, who was in a medically induced coma. Bridgeport police said Davidson sexually assaulted the now 20-year-old girl until she was 16. She allegedly sent dozens of explicit photos of herself to the doctor and never told anybody of the alleged assault after Davidson asked her to take their secret “to the grave.” The doctor allegedly texted the woman often about sex “to educate her and make sure she was safe” and gave her money. 

Davidson told police the woman was having issues talking to her parents about boys and he invited her over to help. He said the woman sent him photographs but insisted he “never did anything illegal with that girl.” “This is a travesty of justice,” his lawyer, Lee Samowitz, told the Connecticut Post. “He was trying to mentor a troubled girl and she has made unsubstantiated allegations against him.” Superior Court Judge William Holden agreed to reduce Davidson’s bond from $200,000 to $100,000—which he was expected to post Thursday evening.