This week's "doctor uses own semen on patients..."

... brought to you by North Carolina.

Ex-Dentist May Face Charges in Semen Case

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A lawyer for a former dentist accused of squirting semen into the mouths of female patients expects a grand jury to charge his client as early as next week.

Defense lawyer George Laughrun said he expects misdemeanor counts of assault on a female against Dr. John Hall to go to the Mecklenburg County grand jury Monday. Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorney David Maloney confirmed to The Charlotte Observer that he plans to submit seven counts to the grand jury.

Hall, 44, has denied the allegations, but could face up to 120 days in prison if convicted on the charges.

Until August, when the N.C. Board of Dental Examiners revoked his license, Hall practiced in Cornelius, a suburb north of Charlotte.

At the hearing, former patients testified that Hall squirted a foul-tasting substance from a syringe into their mouths. In all, Hall was accused of injecting semen into the mouths of six female patients.

In testimony before the dental board, Hall denied the allegations.

"I have never injected semen in any patient's mouth," he said. "I never would. I've got a 10-year-old daughter. That whole concept is so beyond me."

Police searched Hall's office and confiscated syringes after several employees said they were suspicious of the dentist's behavior. DNA tests on the syringes later showed they contained Hall's semen.

Hall said he was collecting his semen to track the side effects of a hair-growth drug. Potential side effects of the drug include low sperm count and diminished semen.

One of Hall's alleged victims, a 38-year-old woman from Cornelius, told The Observer she was glad he will face criminal charges, although she wishes they were more severe.

"I know the prosecutors' hands are tied," she said. What Hall is accused of doing, she said, is "so sleazy and disgusting it doesn't fit under any type of law."