A Jamestown doctor is on trial in Kent County Superior Court for allegedly fondling a patient who was having knee surgery.

Dr. Russel J. Aubin, 40, of Sloop Street, an anesthesiologist, is charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault. He is accused of inappropriately touching a 21-year-old woman during her knee surgery in December 2004.

In a case from 2000, which occurred at Wing Memorial Hospital, in Palmer, Mass., a 23-year-old woman complained Aubin fondled her during surgery on her wrist. Judge Melanie W. Thunberg said she will allow the testimony of the Massachusetts woman to come into the current trial, ruling that the previous incident is similar enough to the one at hand to suggest a pattern of behavior.

Aubin's Rhode Island medical license was suspended in January of last year. In December, after hearing testimony from both patients, a Department of Health hearing officer revoked it permanently.

The doctor has denied any wrong-doing. Jury selection was scheduled for Tuesday morning.