A man who posed as a doctor and was examining women at Mater Dei Hospital was this afternoon handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the charges brought against him.

Michael Camilo Precht, 25, born in Colombia but who was brought up in Denmark and who lives in Msida, was charged with posing as a doctor and fooling three Maltese models into letting him examine them, allowing him to touch them in various parts of their bodies, amounting to violent indecent assault.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli heard defence counsel Giannella de Marco explain how Mr Precht was a doctor in Denmark but his qualifications have not yet been recognised in Malta. He said the entire issue was "a misunderstanding".

However, a quick Facebook search for his name finds a community page Stop Michael Precht, with various people posting that he was a sex predator and needed to be stopped as he was fooling women into letting them touch them after claiming to be a doctor.

Sources close to the investigation told Times of Malta that Mr Precht told the three models that he needed them for a job as he was setting up a Lifeguard Academy website.

He embellished his story by claiming that the insurance needed to see their medical check-up and told them that since he was a doctor, he could do it himself.

He took the women to Mater Dei Hospital on Friday and Saturday last week after 6pm. He bypassed security officers with a Danish tag that resembled the one used at the Maltese hospital and examined them in an examination room that he found unlocked.

He connected an ECG machine, asked them to lift their tops to connect the wires and used a stethoscope to examine them, touching their breasts and various other parts of their bodies.

On a pink paper bearing the hospital's name and which he gave to the models, he wrote: "You need a boyfriend who gives you a massage every day". Upon seeing this, the women went with the paper to the police who started their investigations.

The court heard Police Inspector Jeanne Farrugia explain that since he had touched the women against their will, as it was done fraudulently, this amounted to violent indecent assault.

Mr Precht, who told the court he was unemployed, also admitted to posing as a doctor, practicing the profession without qualifications, making false declarations and violently indecently assaulting the three women.

Magistrate Demicoli jailed him for two years suspended for four years and fined him €2,329.