Doctor Arrested, Charged For Alleged Rape Of 12-year-old From Ashland
ASHLAND, OHIO 7/11/19 – Working closely with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Ashland Police Department, Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, and other federal agencies, Ashland County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Tunnell has been investigating the actions of a Youngstown area medical doctor who, evidence shows, on at least one occasion traveled to the Ashland area to have sex with a 12- year-old child he met via a network of young teens he corresponded with on the internet.
Today, the Ashland County Grand Jury handed up a first-degree felony rape indictment naming Dr. Albert Aiad-Toss, age 51, of Canfield, Ohio. Aiad-Toss is a U.S. citizen and a 1990 graduate of the Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine in Egypt. He has practiced as an internist and emergency room physician in the Youngstown, Ohio area. The first-degree felony indictment is for the alleged rape of a 12-year-old child. AiadToss was first taken into custody last Friday, in South Florida, by federal law enforcement agents who were serving an Ashland County state court arrest warrant for this crime. He was returning to the U.S. from a trip to Peru. Currently held in custody in Florida, he is in the process of being extradited to Ashland County to face this charge.
The overall investigation is complex and still underway and other potential charges will be reviewed. Anyone with information about Aiad-Toss that could help the investigation should contact Prosecutor Tunnell’s office at (419) 289-8857.
“For the last several weeks, we’ve been uncovering evidence that indicates this doctor travelled to a hotel in Ashland County to engage in sex with a 12-year-old girl local to the Ashland area,” Tunnell said after the grand jury met. “We have significant evidence that shows the arrangements being made and we have witnesses who will testify about what happened.” If Aiad-Toss is convicted on this charge, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. “It’s always heartbreaking to see a child being sexually abused but it’s particularly heinous when it’s at the hands of a doctor who took an oath to protect the vulnerable,” Tunnell said. “The facts of this case are especially heinous and disturbing, and I’ll commit all the resources necessary to ensure that justice is done.” Tunnell is coordinating with Ashland area law enforcement and federal authorities to review how state and federal law can be utilized to gather and advance the most relevant evidence about this sexual abuse.
In addition, Tunnell will ask the court to appoint attorney Mark R. Weaver to assist him with the case as a special prosecutor. Weaver previously worked at the U.S. Justice Department and was also the Deputy Attorney General of Ohio. Like Tunnell, Weaver has prosecuted several child sex abuse cases in Ohio, and he worked with Tunnell last year in the Shawn Grate death penalty prosecution. Tunnell told reporters that all future updates about this case will be announced on his office’s Twitter feed: @AshlandCoPros.
Those not on Twitter can alternatively access the information at Twitter.com/AshlandCoPros. A copy of the complete indictment is now available at that feed. Everyone indicted by a grand jury, including this defendant, is presumed innocent and prosecutors bear the burden of proving all elements of all crimes charged.