Charles Momah is truly a man with two faces.

At first encounter, his patients saw a seemingly kind and caring obstetrician-gynecologist who later morphed into an abusive monster.

Momah operated clinics in Burien and Federal Way until 2003, when his medical license was suspended.

And his identical twin brother, Dennis Momah, a Tukwila physician, allegedly would pose as Charles and see patients in a horribly creepy echo of the 1988 movie Dead Ringers.

Charles Momah, 49, was sentenced by King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey on Feb. 6 to 20 years in prison for raping and fondling female patients, as well as insurance fraud and filing false health care claims.

Trickey described Momah as “a physician who was called upon to treat his patients who came to him in need and vulnerability, and he did exploit that vulnerability."

A jury convicted him last year of one count of second-degree rape, one count of third-degree rape and two counts of indecent liberties. During the trial, Momah admitted he had sex with two of his accusers, but he claimed it was consensual.

He said those actions showed poor judgment and were unprofessional, but did not constitute criminal behavior.

“Twenty years is not enough, he should have gotten life without parole,” said Karen Bartels, one of Charles Momah’s victims.

“And Dennis Momah has not been charged with a single thing.”

Bartels is one of 46 women represented by local attorney Harish Bharti in civil lawsuits pending against Charles Momah.

At trial, witnesses told jurors how Charles Momah touched his patients in a sexual manner, performed gynecological exams without wearing gloves, unnecessarily probed them with a vaginal ultrasound wand, sexually harassed them, pressured patients into surgeries, prescribed addictive painkillers for no good medical reason, and double-billed insurance companies for procedures.

Momah was born in Nigeria and received medical training in Nigeria and Canada, then worked in New York and Georgia before moving to Washington in 1993.

When patients started to come forward with claims against him, the state suspended his medical license.

His clinics were closed after the King County Prosecutor’s Office charged him with seven felonies.

Forty four women filed charges against him by June 2004, although he ultimately was convicted on only two counts of rape because others had to be dropped due to the statute of limitations.

The doctor might still be practicing medicine if it weren’t for Kelly Acker, a 33-year-old former patient of his.

In an interview with Robinson Newspapers last week, Acker described how, after she became a patient of Charles Momah in 1998, he began to diagnosis her with strange and extensive gynecological ailments.

“He told me I had all these problems,” said Acker. “For so long I brushed off a lot of weird stuff that happened, thinking it was just me. Never did I stop to question his authority as my doctor.”

It wasn’t until he performed a surgical procedure on her that Acker’s vague feelings of impropriety were confirmed. As she was awakening from the anesthesia, Acker felt a hand caressing her ankle. Later, she discovered bruising on her inner thighs.

Then Acker received a bill from Momah’s office for $900 that used wrong diagnosis codes. She ran it by her co-workers, who agreed that something was fishy, and decided to take action.

Acker reported Momah to the state Department of Health and other agencies, and initiated a paper trail to the insurance companies, documenting her claims.

“I was told over and over that I didn’t have any hard evidence and that it was very difficult to convict a doctor,” Acker recalled. “It was discouraging and frustrating.”

Finally, she started calling lawyers but was brushed aside until she left one last message -- this time with Bharti’s office.

Had he not returned her call, Acker said, she would have given up.

Bharti returned her phone call within 20 minutes, beginning a process that would end with the conviction and sentencing of Momah.

“I’ve worked in a physician’s office for the past four years, and now I know I should have acted earlier. I should have seen what was going on, but I didn’t,” Acker declared with a sigh.

“It’s been a long battle, and I’m glad it’s over, but honestly, I won’t take my daughter to a male doctor. It was that bad.”

“And the brother is still out there,” she added.

Several of Momah’s relatives told Trickey at a sentencing hearing that he was kind and generous.

But Heather Phillips, another former patient and ex-drug addict who accused Momah of giving her narcotic drugs and raping her during a gynecological examination, compared the doctor to "a crack dealer on the street."

Trickey also sentenced Momah to five years for third-degree rape and a year each for two counts of indecent liberties. The sentences will run concurrently.

Senior deputy prosecutor Roger Rogoff said the crimes for which Momah was convicted were more than abuses of trust. “These crimes were abuses of women, of their bodies, their minds."

Momah still faces trial on four counts of health-care fraud in April, as well as the civil suits by former patients.

He has until 30 days after the criminal-fraud trial to appeal the sexual-crimes convictions. An appeal is considered likely.