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Defence lawyer James Heelan said his client hopes to return to family practice one day but currently intends to seek work as a surgical assistant, which would ensure he is always around other doctors and nurses when treating patients.

He does not yet have a job lined up, Heelan said.

“This is an event that will follow Dr. Graff for life, but it need not be an event that will define Dr. Graff’s life,” he told the tribunal. “He is asking to re-enter a profession he loves and become a contributing member of society.”

Graff was 29 and practising at a southwest Edmonton clinic in July 2012 when he engaged in an online chat with someone he thought was 14-year-old “Ashley,” but was actually an undercover Calgary police officer.

During the 86-minute conversation, he asked the girl sexually explicit questions, requested she send naked pictures of herself, and sent her two pictures of his penis.

He also sent the undercover officer an email address, which allowed police to track him down and arrest him in January 2013.

Graff voluntarily withdrew from practising medicine and eventually pleaded guilty to two luring charges. He served about eight months of a 12-month sentence, and was released from jail in June 2016.

In addition to his incarceration, Graff lost his wife, alienated his family and has been registered as a sex offender for life, Heelan said.

He has not practised medicine for 4-1/2 years, and has been making ends meet in part by “digging ditches” as a construction worker, the lawyer said.

The tribunal’s ruling imposes an 18-month suspension on Graff’s medical licence, but that suspension is considered served due to Graff’s long withdrawal from the profession.

He will also be expected to undergo retraining and upgrading of his skills, and will be placed in a college monitoring program for the next five years.

kgerein@postmedia.com

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