A Halifax pediatrician has lost his medical licence after pleading guilty to two counts of accessing child pornography.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia announced Friday that 74-year-old Dr. William Vitale's licence has been formally revoked after he consented to the revocation in October.

"This is a matter that involves a pediatrician and child pornography. There can be no more fundamental breach of trust, or breach of foundational principles of medicine than this," said Dr. Gus Grant, college registrar.

Charged in 2016

In written submissions to the hearing committee, Vitale's lawyers stated:

No child pornography was found on Vitale's office computers.

There is no suggestion of any involvement of his pediatric patients.

There is no evidence that Vitale distributed child pornography.

"Most" of the images involved "fictional text, drawings, and 'anime' (hand-drawn and computer animation) — not photographs of actual minors."

The lawyer for the college did not contest these statements.

Vitale's licence had been suspended since he was first charged in February 2016.

Dr. William Vitale's licence was suspended in February 2016. (CBC)

He was initially charged with possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography and having child pornography for the purpose of distribution, but the possession and distribution charges were later withdrawn.

Vitale entered a guilty plea to two counts of accessing child pornography in September. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 14, 2019.

'Terrible and serious matter'

In its decision, the hearing committee wrote that revoking Vitale's licence will "protect the public interest in the practice of medicine" and protect "the integrity of the medical profession."

"This is the end of a terrible and very serious matter," said Grant. "This is the only resolution that was available given the severity of the matter."

Previously reprimanded

Vitale, who graduated from McGill University's faculty of medicine in 1976, was previously reprimanded on two occasions by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia.

He was disciplined in 2015 for writing prescriptions for a member of his own family and also in 2013 for improperly administering vaccinations. The college found he was improperly mixing incompatible vaccines in a single syringe.

The college ordered Vitale to undergo specialized ethics training in Toronto and to submit to an audit of his practice.