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Charges against Ocoee doctor accused of molesting 77-year-old dropped

A 77-year-old woman said a trip to the doctor ended with him kissing and molesting her. Channel 9 has learned that charges against the doctor have been dropped.

The woman told Channel 9's Jeff Deal that she is still traumatized by what she said happened to her last year.

Deal learned that the case against Dr. Elpidio Abreu, an Ocoee physician, was supposed to go to trial this month, but prosecutors were concerned about how strong a witness the victim might be.

Police officials told Deal that defense attorneys were able to cast doubt on the DNA evidence.

"I didn't know what to do. I was scared to make noise," the woman said.

The woman said Abreu kissed her and then put his hands down her pants and molested her.

"I was in shock. Something like that never happened to me ever, not even in my teenage years," the woman said.

Abreu was arrested in February after Ocoee police said tests revealed his DNA was found inside her pants and underwear, even though he was just supposed to read her test results from a computer.

The State Attorney's Office dismissed the case Monday.

Prosecutors sent Deal handwritten case notes that cited the woman's recantations and "contamination of the DNA evidence by being stored together."

The woman told Deal that she did not recant what she had said, but that when she was hospitalized for another injury couldn't recall the incident temporarily.

"I am not lying about this case and that's what upsets me," the woman said. "That it looks like I'm making something up."

She said prosecutors told her the two pieces of clothing tested for DNA were stored together and that would have contaminated the evidence to be used against Abreu.

"I think he should go to jail and lose his license. That's what I think," the woman said.

The Florida Surgeon General is recommending Abreu be punished. He is still practicing medicine.

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