Dr. George Doodnaught is accused of assaulting 29 women while they were under anesthesia for surgical procedures. (Toronto Police Service)

Police were first alerted two years ago to a complaint about a Toronto doctor accused of sexually assaulting 29 women, but were unable to pursue the case, CBC News has learned.

Dr. George Doodnaught was charged in March with sexually assaulting three female patients between August 2007 and February 2010 while they were under his care.

Police laid 26 additional charges on Thursday, after 26 more women came forward and accused him of sexual assault.

Doodnaught, 61, worked as an anesthesiologist at Toronto's North York General Hospital.

Toronto police told CBC News that a woman came forward in 2008 and claimed she was sexually assaulted by the doctor. But there wasn't enough evidence to lay charges, police said.

It wasn't until February when a second woman came forward that sex crime investigators were able to put a case together.

The woman who came forward in 2008 also allegedly told North York General Hospital about the complaint.

North York General would not answer any questions about whether it received any complaints about Doodnaught before the police investigation started in February.

"We are very concerned about the number of complaints that have come forward to the police," said Bonnie Adamson, the hospital's CEO. "And we really understand how difficult this is for patients and families.

Police said the first three assaults they investigated took place while the women were under anesthesia and undergoing surgical procedures in hospital. They believe the other assaults, alleged to have taken place between 1992 and 2010, were carried out under similar circumstances.

Twenty-eight of the 29 alleged assaults took place at North York General, police said. The other assault is alleged to have happened at another Toronto facility, the Rice Medicine Professional Corporation at 1333 Sheppard Ave. E.

'They feel victimized'

Doodnaught's hospital privileges have been revoked since the police investigation began.

"They feel victimized. They feel abused," said Darcy Merkur, a lawyer representing 26 of the 29 victims in a civil case against North York General. His firm, Thomson Rogers, is representing the three women who were originally identified as victims, and 23 others.

"There's a lot of questions about why this only came to light now. We're interested in finding out the answers to those questions," Merkur said.

When asked what those questions were, Merkur said: "The questions are how did this go unnoticed ... and what efforts were made to stop this kind of conduct from happening?"

He said North York General and Thomson Rogers have agreed to forgo the adversarial route common to many civil cases, with the hospital already pledging to compensate the abuse victims. The process is likely to take several more months, and Merkur declined to say how much the hospital will compensate each victim, adding that would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Unclear how victims knew of abuse

Doodnaught has been an anesthesiologist since 1981. He has worked at the North York hospital for the past 28 years, as well as a number of other facilities throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

It was not made clear how the victims knew they were abused.

There were no cameras in the operating rooms in the hospital. The hospital's chief of staff, Dr. David White, said in March it was possible for an anesthesiologist to be alone with a patient.

White had also said the police investigation would also examine whether the allegations are the result of vivid dreams that some patients experience as a result of the various medications and types of anesthesia.

Police said they were able to lay the new charges due in part to an appeal they made to other possible victims in the wake of the original charges being filed in March.

Meanwhile, Doodnaught appeared in court on Thursday and was granted bail. None of the allegations against him have been proven in court.

Investigators believe there may be more victims.

With files from The Canadian Press