A federal judge has dismissed a sex charge against two Detroit-area doctors accused of performing female genital mutilation on young girls.
Doctors Jumana Nagarwala and Fakhruddin Attar are charged with six federal counts, including conspiracy to commit female genital cutting.
The charges are related to a procedure performed on two 7-year-old girls from Minnesota in February 2017.
But U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman ruled Sunday that the pair did not commit conspiracy to transport a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Friedman wrote that prosecutors haven't contended that any "libidinal gratification" was "sought or obtained" from subjecting the girls to genital mutilation.
Nagarwala denies any crime and says she performed a religious custom on girls from her Muslim sect, the India-based Dawoodi Bohra.
Both doctors still face other charges and could serve up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Two Minnesota mothers also have been charged after taking their daughters to the clinic.
