A former dental assistant at a Silver Spring, Maryland, oral surgery clinic has been ordered to spend seven years behind bars for the sexual abuse of a 17-year-old girl under his care in 2017.
“This sentence holds the defendant accountable and punishes the defendant for his crimes,” said Ramon Korionoff, Montgomery County state’s attorney’s spokesman, of the punishment for 22-year-old Mervin Alexander Rivas-Chang.
Earlier this year, a jury found the Germantown man guilty of several sex offenses, including sexual abuse of a minor. Prosecutors say the abuse happened in September 2017 while Rivas-Chang was supposed to be caring for the girl as she awoke from sedation, following the removal of wisdom teeth.
According to charging documents, as the teen came to, she caught Rivas-Chang in the act of abusing her. She told investigators he touched her inappropriately and forced her to do the same to him while she was unable to move or talk due to the sedation.
At first, the victim said, Rivas-Chang’s face was blurry, but she said that as time passed, his face became clearer. The teenager told detectives she recalls Rivas-Chang asking her after the sexual assault if she had “any crazy dreams,” because, he claimed, patients normally do.
The teenager later went to police with a description, and staff members determined the teenager was describing Rivas-Chang. His DNA was also found on the victim, according to prosecutors.
The seven years in prison comes from the judge’s decision to sentence Rivas-Chang to 25 years in prison with all but seven years suspended. Once released, Rivas-Chang will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
