UF Health Doctor Placed on Administrative Leave Due to CSAM Arrest
Update 6 | August 13: Chintan Shah is now dead. The Alachua County Sheriff's Office announced that he died in jail this morning.
Update 5 | August 11: Authorities have pressed further charges against Shah for transmitting obscene material to a minor, directing or promoting the sexual performance of a child, harmfully/explicitly communicating with a minor, online child solicitation and using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony, bringing up his potential maximum sentence by an additional 45 years.
All Charges Listed
Shah now faces over 300 years in prison.
Update 4 | August 2: Today, UF Health External Communications Assistant Vice President Greg Harrison told GnvInfo, "Dr. Shah has been terminated and trespassed from UF And UF Health properties."
Additionally, Judge James Colaw granted prosecutors' motion for pretrial detention, affirming that Shah will be held without bond.
Update 3 | July 19: Authorities have pressed an additional 38 child sexual abuse material (CSAM) charges against Chintan Shah, bringing his potential maximum sentence up by 190 years. Shah currently remains in jail and prosecutors are seeking a pretrial detention order, which they motioned for last week before the new charges.
Update 2 | July 9: Police have pressed further charges against Shah. He now faces an additional three counts of possession of CSAM, one count of online obscene communication and two counts of distributing or exchanging a child's identifying information for an unlawful sexual purpose. This raises his potential maximum prison sentence by 30 years.
Update 1: Harrison provided the following statement, confirming that Shah was employed at UF Health until today:
"We are actively working with law enforcement on this case. Dr. Shah has been placed on administrative leave and is trespassed from all University of Florida property effective today, July 8, as a result of these allegations. We are unable to provide any other information at this time. Please contact the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office with any further questions."
Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) deputies arrested Chintan Vimalkumar Shah, 40, this morning on one count of possessing CSAM, one count of transmitting CSAM, and one count of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony. Shah could be sentenced to 25 years in prison if found guilty.
Multiple webpages identify Shah as a kidney specialist at UF Health. However, references to Shah appear to have been removed from the UF Health website.
An announcement by ACSO states Shah resides in Newberry. ACSO reported that “detectives developed probable cause that Shah possessed [CSAM] and had engaged in illicit online conversations with minors through social media, including discussions involving the viewing” of CSAM.
ACSO reported that the investigation into Shah remains active and that further charges may be filed.
“To protect the integrity of the case, no further details are being released at this time,” ACSO reported.
