Tonight San Pedro Police are preparing to charge an American man for making a false representation under the dental act. John Robert Hall - a dentist who was convicted in the US, and sent to jail for injecting semen into at least seven of his patient's mouths - seems to have effortlessly manipulated the Medical Council of Belize and gotten a license to work as a dentist, using just a nickname. He did all this despite the well reported 2004 offence - all anyone had to do to find out about it was Google search his name and the quite revolting story would come up. And so, that's likely why Hall didn't use his proper name. And, it seems the council didn't even ask him to present an ID! He got his medical license under an assumed name: Robert Bob Hall - even though all his id's show his name as John Robert Hall. And those ID's include a Belizean work permit and a social security card - which were given both under his legal name.
And so with a duly signed medical license, causally given to him under his nickname, Robert Bob Hall, he was set to open up his Ocean Side dental clinic on San Pedro yesterday morning. And, all would have proceeded as normal were it not for the San Pedro Sun. The paper reports that residents reached out to them with the news that the new dentist in town had been convicted in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Sun's investigation confirmed the report - Hall, had in fact pleaded guilty to 7 counts of injecting bodily fluids into his patients while they were sitting in his dentist's' chair. He spent 4 months in jail and his license to practice in the States was revoked.
The Sun contacted the Ministry of Health - which, by the paper's account - did little more than the usual foot dragging - and so on opening day the editor of the Sun Tamara Sniffin went directly to island police to ask them to intervene and stop the clinic from opening. Deputy of the Coastal Executive Unit, Assistant Superintendent, Henry Jemmott went directly to the clinic, asked Hall for his documents, and that led to the shutdown. Incredibly, the Council and the Ministry of Health were not aware in the discrepancy of names between what was on his license and the name on his identification documents.
Hall has been in police custody since then - and late this evening we confirmed that he ahs been charged.
Notably he came to Belize from Costa Rica - and was granted his license on June 22, 2015, five days before he arrived in the country on the 27th.
Email
Print