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Raleigh County physician accused of raping teen, recording the incident

BECKLEY, W.Va. — A medical professional accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment is being sued by a third person, who claims he raped her in 2016.

According to the Register-Herald in Beckley, the lawsuit filed Monday accuses Dr. Zouhair Kabbara of raping the plaintiff when she was a high school senior and recording the attack without her knowledge.

The lawsuit states Kabbara, who worked at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital, invited the teenager to his home, where he “roughly sexually assaulted” her twice, then forced her to wash away physical evidence.

Kabbara, who currently is under investigation by the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, was accused in an Aug. 19 filing at the Raleigh County Circuit Clerk’s Office of repeatedly sexually harassing a 15-year-old female volunteer at the hospital in June. The suit named Kabbara and Kentucky-based Appalachian Regional Healthcare, which owns the hospital, as defendants.

In a second lawsuit filed Aug. 22, Kabbara was accused of sexually assaulting a female patient at Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley. Kabbara had medical privileges at Raleigh General at the time of the alleged incident. Both the hospital and Kabbara were named in the lawsuit.

West Virginia State Police said Kabbara was made aware of the current investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and has obtained an attorney.

Neither Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital nor Raleigh General Hospital has publicly commented on the allegations.