Buckingham sentenced to seven years in prison

Dr. Sean Buckingham was sentenced to seven years in prison this afternoon for convictions on 12 charges of sexual assault, assault and drug trafficking.
In handing down sentence, Justice James Adams had some harsh words for Buckingham saying the St. John's doctor used his own privileged position to abuse the victims.
"I consider this to be a violent crime, even though he didn't beat themDr. Sean Buckingham up. Instead, he beat them down," Adams said. "He took advantage of some of the most vulnerable people. While he tried to help some, at the same time, he abused them for his own sexual purposes, poisoning them with drugs. Surely few crimes scream out for more denunciation."
The total sentence Adams handed down was seven years and nine months. However, since Buckingham has already served nearly five months in jail, Adams gave Buckingham credit for double those months (as is customary in the justice system) and deducted the nine months from the sentence.
The 47-year-old St. John's doctor who ran a popular clinic on Queen's Road was found guilty Dec. 10 on 12 of 18 charges of sexual assault, assault and drug trafficking by a jury of six men and six women.
During the sentencing hearing this morning, federal Crown prosecutor John Brooks and provincial Crown prosecutor Robin Fowler made a joint submission asking Adams to sentence Buckingham to a total of 10 years in prison. Defence lawyer Randy Piercey suggested that a prison term of between three years, four months and four years, two months.
Several of Buckingham's former female patients had testified during the two-month trial, each telling their own disturbing story of how the doctor crossed the line by demanding sexual favours in return for prescription drugs, like OxyContin and Lorazepam.
He was found guilty of five counts of sexual assault, one count of assault and six drug-trafficking charges. He was acquitted on four sexual assault charges and two drug-trafficking charges.
Complete coverage in Tuesday's Telegram.