A former doctor from Richmond Hill, Ont. has been convicted of sexually assaulting more than a dozen of his patients over the course of nearly a decade at a clinic in York region.

In a Superior Court of Ontario ruling passed down last week, Justice Jill Cameron found Wameed Ateyah, 52, guilty on 16 counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation of a young person.

The assaults were committed against 13 victims in total, all of them female and patients of Ateyah's.

Ateyah worked at the Schomberg Medical Clinic in King Township from 2008 to 2017, during which the assaults all took place, according to York Regional Police.

He initially had 28 charges laid on him in 2020 after police said two female patients came forward with allegations. The subsequent investigation saw an additional 11 victims come forward, according to police.

Ateyah is scheduled to appear at the Newmarket, Ont. Superior Court of Justice on Nov. 6 for sentencing.