Justice James Adams sentenced Buckingham to seven years and nine months in jail for sexual assault, assault and drug trafficking, but not before issuing some harsh words to the St. John's physician.
Adams slammed Buckingham for using his "privileged position" as a doctor to abuse his patients and breach their trust.
"Violence can take on many forms ... and I consider this to be a violent crime, even though he did not beat them up," Adams said.
"Instead, he beat them down."
Since Buckingham has already spent nearly five months in jail, Adams gave him credit for roughly double time (as is customary in the justice system) and deducted nine months from the sentence.
Buckingham must also submit a DNA sample and will be listed on Canada's sex offender registry. He is also prohibited from owning any firearms for 10 years after his release from jail.
He showed no emotion and said nothing as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
The 47-year-old was found guilty Dec. 10 of 12 of 18 charges of sexual assault, assault and drug trafficking by a jury of six men and six women.
Several of Buckingham's female former patients had testified during the two-month trial, each offering disturbing testimony about how the doctor crossed the line by demanding sexual favours in return for prescription drugs, like OxyContin and Lorazepam.
Comments