A former doctor at a Tokyo metropolitan hospital was sentenced Tuesday to 46 months in prison for tricking women patients into disrobing for medical examinations and taking photographs of them.

Prosecutors had sought six years for Sadao Tanabe, 52, who was chief of the Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital's chest and cardiac surgery department and has since been fired.

Tanabe pleaded guilty when his Tokyo District Court trial opened and sought a suspended sentence.

Presiding Judge Yasushi Watanabe called Tanabe's actions malicious as they abused patient trust in doctors.

"Even if the court takes into mind the fact that he has reached settlements regarding compensation with some of the victims, it cannot see it as a case for leniency," Watanabe added.

Tanabe told five female patients at the hospital in Sumida Ward between April 2000 and July 2004 that they had to be nude for checkups such as ultrasonic tests, and surreptitiously took photos of them with a digital camera.