A Utah businessman and small-time actor posed as a doctor on Craigslist then sexually assaulted women who thought they were taking part in research for women’s catheters, police say.
Married father-of-three Borzin Mottaghian, 34, from Provo, was arrested last week on a dozen charges of object rape and forcible sexual abuse for allegedly impersonating a medic in an online ad seeking female test subjects for a research project concerning women’s health.
According to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, police in Provo were contacted last month by a woman who said that she responded to Mottaghian’s ad offering volunteers $200 to ‘participate in what was purported to be research for medical devices specific to women’s healthcare.’
Borzin Mottaghian, 34, has been charged with object rape and sexual abuse for allegedly pretending to be a doctor on Craiglist to lure women for sexual purposes
Married bliss: Mottaghian, of Utah, has a wife (right) and three young children
Family man: The married dad (pictured with his family) is accused of sexually penetrating two women with his hands and instruments under the guise of medical research
The complainant said that when she went to meet the self-described doctor at an office in Provo on October 20, Mottaghian told her the focus of his research was catheters for women.
According to police reports, Mottaghian had the alleged victim fill out paperwork, including nondisclosure agreements, and instructed her to take off her clothes from the waist down.
Mottaghian then allegedly ‘used his hands’ and what appeared to be a metal rod ‘to penetrate her vagina and anus,’ according to report, and took photographs of the woman’s exposed genitals.
The woman left Mottaghian’s office feeling so ‘uncomfortable’ with his actions during their encounter that she reached out to the police.
The woman said she never told Mottaghian to stop the exam, but told him ‘it was feeling very sexual in nature,’ according to an arrest affidavit cited by Salt Lake City Tribune. Mottaghian allegedly replied that it seemed that way because the examination included sexual organs.
Soldier: Mottaghian’s online biography says he is a retired US Marine (pictured left and right in combat gear). His wife is also a veteran
Success story: Mottaghian (pictured with wife Mary) operates two restaurants in Provo
On October 25, a female undercover officer contacted Mottaghian and agreed to meet with him in Provo. The man allegedly assured the cop masquerading as a research volunteer that he was a doctor and instructed her to disrobe, at which point deputies with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office marched in and arrested him.
The sheriff’s office took over the investigation after the Provo Police Department identified an unspecified conflict.
A search of Mottaghian’s office turned up what was described in reports as ‘implements identified by the victim as those used by Mottaghian,’ including gloves and instruments.
Investigators also learned that Mottaghian is not a physician of any kind and is not licensed to perform any kind of medical procedures.
The 34-year-old, who owns two eateries in town and lives in Provo with wife Mary, their two sons and a daughter, was initially booked into the Utah County Jail on two counts of object rape, one count of forcible sexual abuse, two counts of attempted object rape and one count of attempted forcible sexual abuse.
He posted $25,000 cash bail the next day, but was re-arrested just hours later after the sheriff’s office identified a second alleged victim who responded to Mottaghian’s Craigslist ad and met him in the same Provo office on October 18.
According to the report, as with the previous victim, ‘Mottaghian presented himself as a doctor and described the procedures he would put her through. Her description to detectives of what Mottaghian described was virtually the same as that given by the first victim and by the undercover detective.’
Happier times: The Mottaghians and the mayor of Provo are pictured at the grand opening of their venture, the Cocoa and Coffee Company cafe
Mottaghian (pictured right with his sons) also owns the Cafe On Fire Persian restaurant
Emigre: His online bio says Mottaghian moved to the US from Iran in 1990
At the conclusion of the exam, which reportedly left the woman feeling so uncomfortable that she left the office and spent 20 minutes in the bathroom, Mottaghian allegedly paid her $200.
‘The acts he committed against this additional victim during his “exam” of her were also virtually identical to those committed against the first victim,’ the sheriff’s report stated.
After interviewing this victim, detectives located the recently released Mottaghian and again booked him into jail, this time on four counts of object rape and two counts of forcible sexual abuse. Bail on these additional charges has been set at $250,000 cash only.
Mottaghian operates the Cocoa and Coffee Company cafe and the Cafe On Fire Persian restaurant in Provo.
Besides being a business owner, Mottaghian has landed a few small roles in movies and TV shows over the years.
According to an IMDB page bearing his name, he played a driver in the Academy Award-nominated 2008 drama Milk starring Sean Penn.
His other credits include bit parts in the 2010 film Waiting for Forever, where he also played a driver, and the TV series One Tree Hill, where he appeared as a doorman.
His biography posted on the site says that Mottaghian moved to the US from Iran in 1990 and joined the US Marine Corp ‘to show his gratitude to America.’
After retiring from service, he and his wife, who is also a veteran, according to her Facebook page, moved to Utah, where Mottaghian graduated from UVU with a Bachelor’s degree in theater arts.