Toronto

SickKids doctor's licence suspended after arrest on child sex abuse material charges

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A doctor employed at SickKids has been charged with possessing and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

TORONTO — The organization that regulates Ontario’s medical profession says it has suspended the licence of a doctor at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children who was arrested Tuesday on charges related to child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons’ website says Dilan Dissanayake is not permitted to practise medicine, adding an interim order to suspend his licence was issued Tuesday.

The site lists the charges against him, as well as the conditions of his release on bail, which include a ban on being alone with any minors aside from his own children.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the college says the organization’s inquiries committee can impose a suspension on an interim basis without notice when a doctor is likely to “expose patients to harm or injury, and urgent intervention is needed.”

Toronto police have charged Dissanayake, 44, with both accessing and possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

They say investigators have found no evidence the material linked to the charges is related to Dissanayake’s work as a physician.

The college’s site says Dissanayake specializes in rheumatology and pediatrics, and obtained his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 2014.

SickKids doctor arrested A doctor at Toronto’s SickKids hospital has been arrested on charges related to possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material, police say.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2026.