BERLIN (AP) — A German court has sentenced a paramedic to 10 years in prison for giving women sedatives he said were for medical research and then sexually assaulting them.

German news agency dpa reported that the Nuremberg state court convicted the 41-year-old defendant Monday of seven counts of rape and 10 counts of sexually assaulting people unable to defend themselves. In all, he's accused of assaulting 23 women between 2009 and 2016.

The man told victims that he was working for a local university and carrying out tests for studies on cancer. During his trial, he admitted to the assaults and said he was ashamed he had abused the women's trust.

Two women who doubted the man's story went to police after the university said it knew nothing of any such studies.