By Khalida Sarwari
The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office has charged a San Jose dentist who has a previous battery conviction with one count of sexual battery after a 14-year-old girl accused him of fondling her breasts during a dental examination in his office.
Benva Lazar, 56, was booked into the Santa Clara County jail for a felony arrest warrant for sexual battery on Aug. 10.
He has since been released from custody and has returned to his practice at 5710 Cahalan Ave. Lazar could not be reached for comment at his office today.
Lazar is scheduled to return to court at 9:30 a.m. on Monday to set a date for a preliminary hearing.
The arrest followed an investigation that began on June 1 into a child molestation allegation brought forward by a 14-year-girl from San Jose, police said.
Previously, Lazar was arrested in October 2008 on a felony warrant that stemmed from the first investigation of sexual battery involving an adult victim, according to police. After police announced his arrest, five additional adult victims came forward with similar allegations, police said.
According to police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez, during the court proceedings, the district attorney’s office and the defense reached a plea bargain and Lazar pleaded no contest to six counts of misdemeanor battery involving those victims. In that case, Lazar had been charged with 15 counts of sexual battery of varying degrees, according to district attorney’s office spokesman Nick Muyo.
He is due in court for a probation and sentencing hearing in that case at 9 a.m. on Sept. 28.
Police urge parents of juvenile patients of Lazar to discuss the nature of their medical examinations with their children in an effort to identify additional possible child victims.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Detective Dawn Marchetti of the Police Department’s sexual assault investigation unit at (408) 277-4102. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can call crime stoppers at (408) 947-STOP.