STURGIS — A St. Joseph County prosecutor has dropped charges against a former physician at Sturgis Hospital who had been accused of criminal sexual conduct and providing drugs to female patients.

A judge had granted a new trial for Dr. Terence Arthur Whiteman, who worked in the emergency room of the hospital as a contracted physician.

On Wednesday St. Joseph County Prosecuting Attorney John McDonough said many of the victims did not want to go through another trial.

He also said mistakes were made in the case by everyone, the judge who handled the first trial, the defense attorney, the prosecutor and the officer who investigated the case.

“I have decided to dismiss the charges against Mr. Whiteman,” McDonough said.

“I am not making this decision because I feel the evidence is not sufficient to prove Mr. Whiteman’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, that the events did not occur, or that that he should have his medical license reinstated,” McDonough wrote in a press release.

He said he could not in good conscience put the victims on trial again.

Whiteman was arraigned in 2007 on 18 counts, filed by former St. Joseph County prosecutor Douglas Fisher.