VAN NUYS : Dentist Convicted of Sexual Assault

After three days of heated deliberations, a Van Nuys Superior Court jury convicted a Reseda dentist of sexually assaulting a former employee, but acquitted him of assaulting a patient.

Dr. Kamal Matian, 46, was found guilty of three felony counts of attacking a 19-year-old worker. The panel determined that Matian committed false imprisonment, sexual battery and rape by a foreign object.

However, the jury ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict Matian of false imprisonment and sexual battery related to a 38-year-old North Hills woman who claimed she was attacked in late February, 1992.

“There’s not enough for us to convict on a ‘maybe,’ but with (the teen-age victim) we are sure it happened,” said juror Earlene E. Harrison.

Matian faces a maximum prison term of 12 years, 8 months in state prison, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Renee F. Urman. He will be sentenced Nov. 5.

Prosecutors had contended that Matian assaulted his employee on Sept. 11, 1992. Unlike most sex cases, there were witnesses who said they saw the victim run from Matian’s office on the 18700 block of Sherman Way. A police officer and a businessman testified she was hysterical and unable to talk for at least 10 minutes.

The California Board of Dental Examiners will review Matian’s license to practice medicine. Proceedings had been suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case.