The details surrounding the arrest of a UF Health physician and assistant professor July 8 on charges related to child sexual abuse material are clearer following the release of an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Dr. Chintan Vimalkumar Shah, a kidney specialist at UF Health, in a July 8 social media post after serving a residential search warrant at his Newberry home.
Shah, 40, is charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, transmission of child sexual abuse material and use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony.
According to the arrest report, the Sheriff’s Office Digital Crimes Unit received an April cyber tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children alleging that a Kik messaging account later linked to Shah shared child sexual abuse material.
The report states that a 25-second video appeared to be a screen recording of a cellphone displaying multiple videos. According to investigators, the recording showed numerous video thumbnails depicting a prepubescent girl who was nude or partially nude and engaged in sexual activity.
Investigators traced the upload IP address to Shah’s Newberry residence through AT&T records.
The report states that additional records from Google, Dropbox and Snapchat linked the accounts and email addresses used in the investigation to Shah through subscriber information, photographs, phone numbers and address records. Detectives also reported finding nephrology-related documents and presentations in a Dropbox account linked to Shah.
On May 14, investigators received records related to conversations conducted through Kik. The report states that the communications indicated Shah was interested in a form of roleplay known as “age play.”
According to a Google definition included in the arrest report, age play is “a form of roleplay when consenting adults act out roles of different ages, typically with one person acting as a child, infant or younger persona, and the other as a caregiver. It is consensual activity used for emotional regulation, coping with stress, or as sexual/ BDSM kink.”
The report states that Shah engaged in conversations with a 19-year-old woman whom investigators alleged he had been communicating with since she was 17 years old.
According to the arrest report, one conversation referenced a prior roleplay scenario involving Shah and the woman discussing sexual activity with the woman’s purported 10-year-old sister. The report notes investigators were unable to determine whether the woman actually had a 10-year-old sister or whether the reference was solely part of the roleplay.
When detectives executed a search warrant at Shah’s residence on July 8, he confirmed his personal information but denied knowledge of the Kik account, according to the report. The report notes that Shah became upset and cried when investigators mentioned the platform. Shah later requested an attorney, at which point detectives stopped questioning him.
The report states that Shah’s wife told investigators she had been in India from January through March 2026, a period that overlapped with many of the Kik messages cited in the investigation.
The report also notes that Shah was born in India, earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from Medical College of Baroda and later immigrated to the United States. Based on international ties and evidence of travel recovered during the investigation, the report argued Shah could present a flight risk if released.
Jail records show Shah is currently being held without bond.
Following his arrest, UF Health placed Shah on administrative leave.
“We are actively working with law enforcement on this case. Dr. Shah has been placed on administrative leave and is being trespassed from all University of Florida property effective today, July 8, as a result of these allegations,” UF Health said in a statement.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains active and that additional charges could be filed.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Arrest report details child porn allegations against UF Health doctor
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
