A doctor was on Friday sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for rape.

Before Senior Justice Bernard Turner passed sentence, Dr. Gerald Mark Forbes remained defiant and unrepentant as he branded his accuser a liar, though he claimed that he still had feelings for her.

While referring to a previous rape acquittal in 2016, the 52-year-old doctor said, "It is impossible for a licensed medical doctor to be convicted of rape. Any person who commits rape, never was, and never will be a licensed medical doctor in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas."

In that incident, Forbes was accused of indecently assaulting a woman during a physical exam and raping her while performing an abortion in March 2015.

Forbes said that he had been admitted to the Sandilands Rehabilitation Center and two admissions to the psychiatric ward of the Rand Memorial Hospital because of the rape allegations.

"I have been receiving psychiatric treatment regularly for 12 years, and my name and reputation have been destroyed by these lies," said Forbes.

He continued, "I was sentenced in 2010, the same day the charges were filed, and my sentence was life, because no matter what, some people will believe this ridiculous foolishness."

At his trial, Forbes maintained that the events of March 9, 2010 were consensual and the culmination of a mutual sexual attraction.

Forbes claimed that he and his accuser exchanged sexually explicit text messages in the weekend before they had sex in the bathroom of an office building.

The jury unanimously rejected Forbes' assertions and convicted him of sexual assault.

The court heard that Forbes came to the woman's workplace on the pretext of giving her a cordless phone, so she could take messages for him when he wasn't at his clinic, Carmichael Medical.

Once she opened the door, the woman said Forbes pushed her inside, forced her into the bathroom and sexually assaulted her.

In passing sentence, Turner noted that Forbes had requested a non-custodial sentence while the Deputy DPP Cordell Frazier asked for a sentence in the range of 15 to 20 years. Turner said that this would have been an abdication of his professional duties by ignoring an "appropriate sentence in this type of matter".

He said that the charges were an abuse of trust engendered by Forbes' professional status.

However, Turner did agree that Forbes deserved a sentencing reduction due to the 12 years it took to bring the case to trial.

Turner said he considered 15 years was an appropriate sentence, but he reduced the sentence due to the delay.

The sentence takes effect from September 16, 2022, the date of conviction.

Turner told Forbes that he would only serve eight years if he didn't commit any infractions against prison discipline.

Forbes was represented by Devard Francis and Miranda Adderley at his trial. However, he decided to represent himself during the penalty phase of the trial.

Karine MacVean appeared along with Frazier.

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