Gynaecologist 'sexually abused over 200 patients during examinations'
A grim sexual abuser and former gynaecologist who is accused of abusing around 200 patients is expected to be sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Depraved Robert Hadden, 64, was accused in lawsuits of abusing over 200 patients in his long career, lasting a number of decades.
He has been in custody since he was convicted in a federal court in January on four counts of enticing victims to cross state lines so he could sexually abuse them.
“This conviction helps a lot,” said a woman in January who first became a patient in 1993 and went to Hadden for nearly 20 years.
An initial state prosecution resulted in no jail sentence. A sentencing hearing is due to continue today.
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Robert Hadden (NY Daily News via Getty Images)The judge’s announcement of his sentencing plans drew a complaint from defence attorney Deirdre von Dornum. She said it was overly harsh.
Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 25 years, while defence attorneys asked for just three.
A 20-year sentence would be four times the roughly four-to-five-year term that the judge concluded federal sentencing guidelines recommend.
“Here you have somebody who has already lost everything, and you’re giving him effectively a life sentence,” Dornum said.
The lawyer said her client was enduring harsh jail conditions at a federal lockup in Brooklyn, where inmates make threats and extort him to turn over his commissary money.
Women who reported Robert Hadden to authorities for sexually abusing them during OB-GYN visits outside federal court in Manhattan following his conviction (Zuma Press/PA Images)But Judge Bernam has argued the crimes involved "outrageous, horrific, beyond extraordinary, depraved sexual abuse," noting the government had reported at least 245 women have claimed they were abused by the former Columbia University doctor.
The judge said the crimes Hadden committed while working at hospitals including Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital merited a longer sentence.
The institutions have agreed to pay more than $236 million to settle civil claims by more than 200 former patients.
In a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson for Columbia University's Irving Medical Centre said the hospital "is profoundly sorry for the pain that Robert Hadden's patients suffered and his exploitation of their trust."
"The prosecution of Hadden that led to his conviction of federal crimes showed how he purposely worked to evade our oversight and engineer situations to abuse his patients," the spokesperson said. "We commend all the women who have come forward, especially those who shared their experiences so publicly during these judicial proceedings."
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Hadden's depraved crimes
Brave survivors came forward to describe the horror of what they faced when they were treated by Hadden.
At trial, women testified Hadden repeatedly forced them to submit to sexualised breast exams and touched their vaginas in ways that seemed sexual rather than for a medical purpose.
Prosecutors said he sought sexual gratification when he asked victims “detailed, inappropriate, and medically unnecessary questions and provided unsolicited advice and commentary about their bodies, pubic hair, masturbation, sexual activity, sex toys, pornography, and sexual partners.”
Attorney Anthony T Dipietro, who represents numerous Hadden victims, said women continue to surface to say they too were victims of Hadden. He said he believes Hadden treated between 6,000 and 8,000 women and that his victims number in the “hundreds, if not thousands.”
One woman said she became a Hadden patient because she was friends with his niece. She said he would talk about his niece even while he molested her.
After Hadden's conviction, US Attorney Damian Williams said: “Robert Hadden was a predator in a white coat. For years, he cruelly lured women who sought professional medical care to his offices in order to gratify himself.
"Hadden’s victims trusted him as a physician, only to instead become victims of his heinous predilection. We thank and commend the brave women who came forward to tell their stories, many of whom testified at trial, to end his years-long cycle of abuse."
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