Roseville

Optometrist sentenced to 90 days for sexual assault

By Sara Kandel
C & G Staff Writer

Brikho

MOUNT CLEMENS — A Roseville optometrist accused of sexually assaulting a young female patient was sentenced to 90 days behind bars at a June 28 Macomb County Circuit Court hearing.

Danny Brasim Brikho, 30, had been charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct after he touched his penis to a 16-year-old patient’s face during an exam last year at the Roseville LensCrafters office where he worked at the time.

The sentencing, which includes five years probation, came after he pleaded guilty to one of the charges and no contest to the other on May 21.

Circuit Court Judge David Viviano cited Brikho’s willingness to get help and the likely loss of his medical license as factors in the sentencing. In addition to the jail time and probation, Brikho, a Sterling Heights resident, will also have to register as a sex offender and is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 17.

Nicole Blank, the prosecuting attorney in the case, had requested a more severe punishment given the abuse of his position and claims regarding his conduct from more than one victim.

“His attorney requested a plea deal, but we declined it,” Blank previously told the Eastsider.

Charges were brought against Brikho on Sept. 22, 2011, after the Aug. 4 incident in which he was said to have administered three drops of fluid to each of the 16-year-old victim’s eyes before instructing her to close her eyes and then touching his penis to her face.

In her report, the victim, considered a minor, told police that she opened her eyes when she felt something touch her lip and saw Brikho’s exposed penis. He was standing on a chair, she said. She ran crying from the exam room, at which point her mother called the police.

Responding officers took statements from witnesses in the waiting room, many of whom collaborated the girl’s statement that she ran from the room in distress. The LensCrafters is located inside Macomb Mall at Gratiot and Masonic. Police had said another potential female victim contacted them, but additional charges were never brought.

Brikho refused to make a statement regarding the incident but told police at the time that he was working on the air vent above the victim’s head. He hired a lawyer immediately following the incident.

His attorney, Andrew Leone, has not responded to requests for comment throughout the duration of the case. According to reports, he was not present at the sentencing.

Brikho will be incarcerated at Macomb County Jail for the duration of his 90-day sentence, for which he had earned a credit for one day already.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Sara Kandel at skandel@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1030.