Ismail Taher, an Edmonton-area family doctor, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a female patient.

Taher groped the young woman, who is now 20, during a routine Medicentre visit in Aug. 2013 in Sherwood Park.

The woman, who cannot be identified, was concerned about a tattoo on her hip and a nose piercing. She said Taher touched her buttock, massaged her breast and then called her beautiful.

Despite the decision, Crown prosecutor Jon Werbicki argued in an Edmonton courtroom Wednesday that Taher should not go to jail.

"If Dr. Taher can overcome these criminal tendencies, he can become a valuable member of society."

Taher will be sentenced in May.

For now, Taher continues to be allowed to practise but, as stipulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, he must be chaperoned when consulting a patient under the age of 16.

"A chaperone will remain in place until some other sort of process can be worked out, and as I said that may be a suspension or that may be the physician withdrawing from practice," said Kelly Eby, communications director with the college.

Eby said the college will post its decision on its website.

As of Wednesday afternoon the college's website said "this doctor is currently accepting new patients."

Taher will return to court in November to face two other counts of sexual assault against two other women.