A Massachusetts doctor has been accused of sexually abusing at least two dozen women when they were children — after one asked on social media whether vaginal penetration was standard during a pediatric exam.
Dr. Richard Kauff was first charged on Nov. 2 with four counts of rape and 12 counts of indecent assault and battery of a victim under the age of 14 following complaints from two initial accusers, NBC News reported.
But by the time Kauff appeared in Hingham County Court for today’s hearing, 22 more accusers — including two who were minors — had come forward, Plymouth County Assistant DA Jeremy Beth Kusmin told the court.
“We expect dozens more similar charges,” prosecutors said of the allegations “growing exponentially.”
Kauff pleaded not guilty and “vehemently denies the charges,” his attorney, Kelli Lea Porges, told the court.
The two initial accusers said Kauff abused them when they were child patients at South Shore Medical Center between November 1991 and August 2004.
Dr. Richard Kauff is facing multiple charges after 24 patients accused him of abusing them as children.South Shore Health
One of them posted a question to a discussion group on Oct. 4 about whether it was “normal” for a doctor to put “their finger in her vagina during an annual checkup,” according to NBC News, citing a police report.
“The feedback received from the post was very encouraging because what happened to him was not normal,” the report said.
However, another woman said the same thing had happened to her, leading her to assume it was “a normal part of a routine pediatric physical exam,” the report states.
The two soon realized they had been treated by Kauff, who allegedly abused them for more than a decade, starting as early as age 8, according to NBC.
Dr. Richard Kauff at his trial. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK
The alleged victim “wrote the original anonymous Facebook post” after telling her therapist “how uncomfortable she felt about her visit with the defendant,” Kusmin, the prosecutor, told the court.
“And his therapist told him this behavior was not normal and to call the police.”
The women told authorities that if their parents had been in the room during the exam, the pediatrician would have shielded them from view, according to the outlet.
Kauff worked at South Shore Medical Center.South Shore Health
Both claimed Kauff would ask them to change into paper gowns, lie on a table and count to three before he inserted his fingers into their vaginas.
The suspect became “extremely upset” when police arrived at his home on October 11 and told him he was being investigated, NBC News reported, citing police reports.
“Dr. Kauff states that he has practiced medicine for over forty years without a single problem,” he is reported to have said.
Kauff, who agreed to stop practicing medicine after being charged, was released on $50,000 bail and is expected back in court on January 11.
The medical center said it had contacted the patient about the disturbing case.South Shore Health
He was ordered to stay away from the woman and prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16, including his 4-month-old grandson, according to CBS News.
Kauff does not need to wear a GPS monitoring device.
“He’s been out and about for a month with this weight on his shoulders,” said his defense attorney, Kelli Porges. “He’s here with his wife and there’s no reason to tie this guy up with a GPS device.”
South Shore Medical Center told NBC News it is contacting patients.
“These charges are very serious, and we stand ready to assist and cooperate with any investigation,” the hospital said in a statement.
District Attorney Tim Cruz said outside court: “Obviously, when you go from two to a higher number, to 24 here on the day of the trial, I think what it shows is that there was clearly a breach of trust between a doctor-patient relationship.”
Kauff and his wife have so far declined to comment on the case.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
