PALM COAST, Fla. -- A Flagler County urgent-care doctor is facing battery charges after several female patients came forward to report that he'd inappropriately touched them.

Florence Robert Fruehan, 59, of Palm Coast will be charged with simple battery charges, a misdemeanor, Flagler County deputies said in a charging affidavit Thursday.

The Sheriff's affidavit says the allegations came to light after a woman came forward after a May appointment with Fruehan at an urgent care center on Pine Cone Drive. The woman reported to detectives that Fruehan had led her to a small exam room and touched her inappropriately without her permission. The woman told detectives she was "in shock" at the incident.

While investigating that case, several other female patients came forward to detectives and described similar encounters with Fruehan, they said. The women said they didn't initially report the incidents because of fear and/or embarrassment. The woman also told detectives that they were left "in complete shock" and "puzzled" after the doctor inappropriately touched them without permission, the affidavit says.

More allegations are being investigated, and more charges may be filed, the Sheriff's Office said.

"Unfortunately, the statute of limitations makes it impossible to charge him on every alleged assault. We are still investigating other allegations against him. We are ask that anyone who may have been assaulted to come forward so we can make sure this guy never has the opportunity to victimize someone again," Sheriff Rick Staley said in a news release.

Anyone who was a patient of Fruehan who thinks they may have had an inappropriate experience is urged to call the Flagler Sheriff's Office at 386-313-4911.