Copley, Ohio – Vivek Bhalla, president of Summa Health Medical Group, โhas beenโ charged under Ohio’sโ revenge porn law after allegedly disseminating a privateโฃ photo ofโ a โwoman to her family, business partners, andโ social media contacts.
The Copley Police Department initiated an investigation after a woman contacted them around 5:30 p.m. โon saturday, reporting the incident. According toโ a police report, โฃshe left Ohio fearing for the safety of herself and her children before contacting authorities.She alleged thatโ after leaving โthe state, Bhalla sent the photo via text message and social media.
Bhalla, who has โworked at Summa health as 2009,โฃ served as the hospital’s chief medical officer from 2018 to 2021 beforeโค being promoted to his current role in 2021. He has โbeen placed โฃonโ leave during the investigation, a Summa Health spokespersonโข confirmed.
“We are awareโฃ of โคthe allegations against โDr. Bhalla and take them very seriously,” Summa Health said in a statement.
Police reports indicate that โwhen officers visited Bhalla’s home, he denied disseminating the photo, stating,โข “Oh yea.I don’t know about that.It wasn’t โnecessarily me. My phone wasโ inโ other people’s hands.”
After beingโ informed he would beโค arrested and charged, Bhalla allegedly attempted to hand his phone to his mother and refused to provide officers with the phone’s password. Officers recovered theโ phone as evidence.
Ohio’s revenge โporn law was initially enacted as a misdemeanor offense in 2018 under former gov. John Kasich. Enhanced penalties wentโ into effect on Sept. 30 following the signing of House Bill 96 by Gov.Mike DeWine.
Donald Malarcik, Bhalla’s attorney, โคhas been contacted for comment. The nature of the relationship between Bhalla and theโฃ woman has not been disclosed.