A federal jury found a former urologist in New York City guilty on Wednesday of sexually abusing eight patients, six of whom were kids at the time. He faces life in prison.
A statement from U.S. Attorney Damian Williams after the unanimous decision said, “Darius A. Paduch took advantage of his position of trust as a medical doctor for his own perverse pleasure.” “For years, patients who came to his office for medical care, many of whom were children, left as victims.”
Paduch’s lawyer told Newsday that the family was “definitely” going to appeal, but they wouldn’t say anything else.
A federal grand jury indicted Paduch in April of last year on four felony counts of forcing a victim to engage in sexual behavior that is against the law. At the time, the DOJ said that investigators had found Paduch had lied about his abuse by saying that the treatment he was getting was “medically necessary and appropriate.”
After his arrest, the number of known victims grew quickly. More than 130 former patients have come forward to file legal claims against the disgraced doctor under New York’s Adult Survivors Act. The legal cases are still going on.
It was Wednesday, according to a statement from Mallory Allen, a partner at the law company Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC that is representing the survivors.
Allen said, “For almost twenty years, patients who trusted him with their medical care and treatment were instead abused by his degrading, sexually violating, and medically unfounded actions while the hospitals where he worked looked the other way.”
“The guilty verdict in the criminal case makes it clear that these horrible actions will not be forgotten, and the ongoing civil cases will make sure that the institutions that put profits ahead of their patients over and over again will be held responsible for ignoring years of complaints.”
Justice Department officials say that between 2015 and 2019, Paduch raped and molested his patients while pretending to do urology exams. He also sodomized them with his bare fingers and “other devices,” masturbated them, and showed them pornography.
When the civil lawsuit was filed last September, it named at least 58 victims and said there were “thousands” more during Paduch’s 19-year career in New York hospitals. The doctor was also accused of forcing patients to have surgery without anesthesia and trying to get them hooked on opioids.
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The lawsuit said that Paduch was a disgusting, cruel, and sexist sexual predator.
Most of the claims are based on Paduch’s time at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and Northwell Health. Plaintiffs say that both of them turned a blind eye while Paduch’s abuse went on without stopping. Both facilities cut ties with Paduch after he was arrested and said they would help with any probe.
A Northwell spokeswoman told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that the hospital was “deeply disturbed” by the information that had been revealed during the criminal processes against Dr. Paduch. She also said that he had not been connected with the hospital “for some time.”
“Northwell fully cooperated with the authorities in connection with Dr. Paduch’s prosecution,” she said, refusing to say anything else because criminal proceedings were still going on and civil litigation was still open.