The Bălți Court of Appeals has increased the prison time from 13 to 15 years for Stanislav Florea, a former doctor who was found guilty of raping at least 16 patients at a mental residential establishment in the northern city.

The ruling is enforceable immediately, and the former doctor was taken in custody in the courtroom.

The victims’ lawyer Doina Ioana Străisteanu posted on FB that the doctor confessed to everything.

The case surfaced in February 2013 when a woman announced her family that she had been raped by her doctor. More female patients came forward subsequently accusing Florea of having raped and beaten them. In October 2016 a district court sentenced Florea to 13 years in prison, but let him free until an irreversible judgment.