Camilo Molina

Convicted and sentenced. A jury at Glasgow Sheriff Court found Camilo Molina guilty of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman on September 23, 2026, and on October 21, 2026 the court sentenced him to two years in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register for ten years. Molina denied the charge and told the jury the contact was consensual; the jury rejected that account. Claims that he had posed as a police officer were denied by Molina and formed no part of his conviction.

Introduction

Dr. Camilo Molina, 40, an American neurosurgeon and former Washington University School of Medicine associate professor from St. Louis, Missouri, was convicted of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman in a Glasgow nightclub and jailed for two years . A jury found him guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court on September 23, 2026, and on October 21, 2026 Sheriff Paul Reid sentenced him to two years in prison and to ten years on the sex offenders register . Police Scotland’s Detective Inspector Holly Swindells said: “Molina sexually assaulted the woman, a complete stranger to him, in a busy bar in what can only be described as a despicable attack. He now faces the consequences of his actions” .

Background Information

Molina was a spine-fellow-trained neurosurgeon and associate professor of neurosurgery and orthopaedic surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as deputy director of spine innovation at the university’s Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology and ran his own research laboratory . He helped develop augmented-reality technology that allowed surgeons to view 3D visualizations of CT scans through a headset — work connected to the world’s first augmented-reality-guided spinal fusion surgery, performed at Johns Hopkins University in June 2020, and named among Time magazine’s best inventions . Born in Colombia and a naturalized U.S. citizen who moved to America as a child, Molina traveled to Glasgow in April 2025 to speak at a professional spine conference, the Scoliosis Research Society’s International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

On the night of April 5, 2025, Molina and medical colleagues went out in Glasgow’s west end after the conference, around 7pm, before continuing drinking at the Kong nightclub on Royal Exchange Square in the city centre . Prosecutors said Molina approached a 20-year-old woman he did not know from behind, put his hand under her denim skirt and touched her intimately . Prosecutors also claimed he pretended to be a police officer when he first approached the woman — an allegation Molina denied in court and which was not part of his conviction .

At trial, CCTV footage was played to the jury and nightclub staff gave evidence: the manager of Kong recalled the woman’s eyes “filling up” afterward, and a security guard told jurors she “looked like she was crying” . Prosecutor Leo McGinn told the court the footage showed Molina touch the woman’s bum and “place his hand under her denim skirt” . Molina testified that “nothing overtly sexual” happened at first and claimed he asked the woman, “Don’t mind if I put my hand here do you?”, saying she replied that she “did not mind” . The jury convicted him on September 23, 2026; Molina slumped his head at the verdict and whispered “Okay” .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Sentencing him, Sheriff Paul Reid said he could not ignore “the predatory nature of your behaviour on the night in question,” telling Molina: “You abused your friendship and violated her inexplicably, then labelled her a prostitute afterwards, which she was not… I am satisfied there is no alternative to imprisonment” . After the verdict he had told Molina: “You behaved disgustingly. You behaved like a predator and took advantage of a young woman who was worse for wear” . Detective Inspector Swindells praised the woman for showing “great courage and strength by reporting what happened to her and throughout the legal process” . Defense attorney John Scullion KC said the incident “happened after many hours of drinking” — offered as explanation, not excuse — stressed that Molina respects the jury’s verdict and does not suggest the woman lied, and noted he is a first offender whose wife still supports him .

Current Status

Molina is serving a two-year prison sentence in Scotland and must remain on the sex offenders register for ten years . Before sentencing he resigned from his hospital post, and his lawyer told the sentencing hearing that his licence to practise medicine has been revoked . Washington University confirmed his separation but did not specify whether he was fired or resigned, telling a student publication: “Dr. Molina is no longer employed by Washington University” . At sentencing, Sheriff Reid noted Molina had also suffered “the loss of your home,” and his university biography and lab pages have been removed .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Molina’s conviction ended a career his own defense counsel described as one of the top in American complex spine surgery, including FDA-related work on the first augmented-reality spine procedures in the United States . Scullion told the court the consequences had been “catastrophic”: resignation from Washington University Hospital, revocation of his medical licence, and imprisonment far from home . The case is also a warning attached to professional-conference travel: the assault occurred hours after Molina spoke at an international spine meeting, and a two-year sentence followed nine days of trial coverage in the Scottish press .

Sources

• NY Post, “Missouri neurosurgeon convicted of sexually assaulting woman, 20, in ‘despicable’ attack in Scottish nightclub,” October 24, 2026 source
• Glasgow Times, “Camilo Molina jailed after sex attack in Glasgow’s Kong nightclub,” October 24, 2026 source
• STV News, “American neurosurgeon Camilo Molina jailed for sexually assaulting woman at Glasgow nightclub,” October 2026 source
• Daily Record, “Top US neurosurgeon who sexually assaulted woman half his age in Glasgow nightclub jailed,” October 24, 2026 source
• The Herald, “US neurosurgeon Camilo Molina jailed for Glasgow nightclub sex assault,” October 24, 2026 source
• Glasgow Times, “Top neurosurgeon faces jail after ‘predatory’ sex attack on woman in Glasgow club,” September 2026 source
• Hoodline, “Ex-WashU spine surgeon convicted of assaulting woman at Glasgow nightclub,” September 2026 source