South African psychiatrist Ray Berard accused of patient sexual exploitation, involvement in family business

INSTEAD of hearing details of the intimate relationship between psychiatrist Ray Berard and patient Sylvia Ireland, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) heard reasons why the hearing should be postponed.

The professional conduct inquiry was expected to go ahead yesterday and today, but Berard’s representative, Graham van der Spuy, instead argued for a postponement to allow for more preparation time.

In July 2008 Ireland wrote to the HPCSA accusing her former psychiatrist of having used her therapy sessions, for more than two years, to have sex.

Her husband Stuart Ireland, a high-profile businessman in the beauty industry, was footing the bill for the sessions.

Stuart Ireland died two years ago while attempting to obtain a divorce, citing her affairs and lavish spending as reasons for the end of the marriage.

Sylvia Ireland said Berard used his position as her psychiatrist and marriage counsellor to prescribe her a number of drugs, blackmail her into having sex, control her marriage, and go into business with her husband.

According to the news magazine Noseweek, Stuart Ireland appointed Berard as a director of his company Prestige Cosmetics while the psychiatrist continued to send erotic SMSes to Sylvia Ireland.

Sylvia Ireland then confessed details of the affair to her husband, prompting Berard to resign as director.

Dressed all in black with a leopard print jacket, Ireland stared straight ahead throughout the hearing at the Belmont Conference Centre in Rondebosch, Cape Town, yesterday, avoiding eye contact with Berard.

According to the charge sheet, Berard was guilty of unprofessional conduct in that, during the period October 2005 until February 2008, he had a doctor-patient relationship with Ireland.

The charge sheet said Berard had “Misused the position of trust and confidence towards your patient by entering into an intimate physical relationship with her and/or having sexual intercourse with her.”

The hearing continues.

Source: Michelle Jones, “Bid to delay psychiatrist’s sex case,” Independent Online, URL: http://www.iol.co.za

Louisiana “school counselor” sentenced to 30 years prison for child rape is actually licensed psychiatrist

MEDICAL LICENSE INFO FOR Allison Campo Hargrave, M.D. 224 ST. LANDRY ST., STE. 2-B LAFAYETTE, LA 70506 Phone: (337) 235-4554 License

Number	License Category	Issue Date	Reinstatement Date	Current Through	Current Status	Specialty
MD.14022R	Medicine and Surgery	03/20/2001		06/07/2010	License suspended pending administrative action	Psychiatry

Medical/Professional School	Degree	Date Graduated
Louisiana State University School of Medicine	M.D.	05/18/1996

A former Ascension Episcopal School counselor will spend 30 years behind bars for raping a 14-year-old female student who went to her for in-school guidance.

U.S. District Judge Richard Haik sentenced Dr. Allison Hargrave, 40, of Lafayette, to 30 years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release.

Haik told Hargrave during her sentencing Wednesday evening that he strongly considered putting her in jail for the remainder of her life.

“I wanted to, but I just couldn’t justify it,” Haik said. “Thirty years is a long, long time, Ms. Hargrave.”

Haik, who also ordered Hargrave to pay $279,454 in restitution to the victim, had harsh words for Hargrave.

“You manipulated, and you played the game,” Haik said. “And you lost.”

During the sentencing, Haik told Hargrave he would recommend she be placed in a prison facility where she can get “serious medical treatment for a serious problem you have.”

In March, Hargrave pleaded guilty in federal court to the crime of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Hargrave, wearing a bright pink Iberia Parish Jail inmate jumpsuit, solemnly walked out the courtroom after Haik sentenced her. She did, however, apologize for her actions earlier in the sentencing.

Hargrave, who was a counselor and yoga instructor at the school, began counseling the 14-year-old female victim during spring 2009. Haik sharply criticized Hargrave on Wednesday for taking advantage of the student, who went to Hargrave for help with depression and suicidal feelings.

“You will survive,” Haik told Hargrave. “I pray to God that young lady does too.”

Hargrave continued her relationship with the minor during the summer of 2009, and by that fall, Hargrave began sending the victim text messages and emails “graphically discussing engaging in sexual activities with the minor and making plans to meet the minor to engage in the sexual activities,” according U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley, who represents Lafayette as part of Louisiana’s Western District.

“This case reflects the serious consequences and fallout of individuals who sexually abuse minors,” Finley said in a news release.

“The harm done to children is long range and often irreversible. The actions of the defendant are disturbing, and the sentence is justified.”

During the fall of 2009, Hargrave “raped the minor female in a medical office in Lafayette,” Finley said. Hargrave continued to sexual exploit the victim into January 2010.

Source: Nicholas Persac, “Ex-school counselor to serve 30 years,” The Advertiser, August 3, 2011.

Wisconsin medical board reprimands psychiatrist David Israelstam…again

On June 15, 2011, the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing Medical Examining Board reprimanded psychiatrist David M. Israelstam for negligence.

According to the Board’s document, Israelstam treated a 21-year-old female patient beginning in August 2007. The patient was at that time under guardianship. He initially prescribed her the antidepressants Zoloft and Lexapro and the antipsychotics Abilify and Lamictal, the tranquilizer Restoril and the anticonvulsant Neurontin. He saw her monthly for “medication management.”

A staff member of the licensed home where the patient resided was present at each of the patient’s appointments with Israelstam. At the first appointment, Israelstam was provided with the patient’s treatment records, which showed that the patient had a history of physical and sexual abuse by her stepfather, placement in foster care at age 5, placement in a mental health center from age 8 to 10 followed by unsuccessful community placements and thereafter, continuing behavioral and emotional impairments.

Israelstam told the patient that he knew a young man who was looking for a young woman with whom to have a sexual relationship and asked if that was something that the patient would be interested in.

On January 8, 2009, the patient, accompanied by the administrator of her residential placement, had and appointment with Israelstam. At the end of the appointment, Israelstam told the patient that he knew a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome who was looking for a young woman with whom to have a sexual relationship and asked if that was something that the patient would be interested in. She said she was not and not long after she ceased seeing Israelstam due to being uncomfortable about what occurred.

Israelstam was previously reprimanded by the state in 2000, for sharing personal information with a patient about his difficulties with his mother, ex-wife and daughter, as well as making comments of a sexual nature to the patient.

Source: Final Decision and Order in the Matter of the Disciplinary Proceedings Against David M. Israelstam, M.D., Order 0000903.

Psychologist Jorge Rodriguez convicted, suspended for sexual battery on teen client

On May 19, 2011, the Virginia Board of Psychology suspended psychologist Jorge Rodriguez indefinitely, though for not less than 18 months.

According to the Board’s Order, by his own admission, On August 6, 2010, Rodriguez sexually assaulted a 19-year-old community college student who had been referred to him for neuropsychological testing to determine the cause of her difficulty mastering her school work.

Rodriguez invited the client into his office after normal business hours, purportedly to receive the results of her testing and to use his office as a quiet place to study.  Under the guise of giving the girl a massage to help her relax, took her to another office, had her lie down on a couch and proceeded to touch her in a sexual manner.

Rodriguez was charged and on March 2, 2011, he pleaded guilty to sexual battery in Fairfax County Circuit Court and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, suspended contingent upon good behavior for one year.

Source: Order in re: Jorge M. Rodriguez, Ph.D., License No. 0810-001925, Case No. 136401, Before the Board of Psychology.

Ohio clinical social worker Melissa Humbert suspended for sex with former client

On May 21, 2010, the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, Marriage & Family Therapist Board suspended licensed social worker Melissa K. Humber for two years for “entering into a sexual relationship with an ex-client within 5 years after terminating the therapeutic relationship and continued until approximately January 2010.  Upon resuming practice following her suspension, Humbert must be monitored in all aspects of her practice for two years.

Source: Consent Agreement between Melissa K. Humbert and the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, Marriage & Family Therapist Board.

Suit against counseling center alleges booze, sex instead of treatment

A woman who sought treatment for alcoholism at a Spanaway counseling center contends in a lawsuit that she instead was plied with liquor and forced by a worker there into an unwanted sexual relationship.

The 43-year-old woman seeks unspecified damages in a suit filed Monday in Pierce County Superior Court. The suit names Clay Vince Statewright, Alternative Counseling, Action Counseling and Kassuhn Inc. as defendants.

Statewright, 52, worked as a chemical dependency counselor at Alternative Counseling and Action Counseling, which are owned by Kassuhn, the suit states. The woman alleges Statewright forced alcohol, and ultimately himself, on her on numerous occasions in 2008.

The woman seeks damages for, among other things, assault and battery, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“Instead of providing the treatment she needed and they agreed to give her, defendants made her condition worse by negligently and recklessly providing ineffective and harmful treatment, including exploitation of her vulnerable conditions,” the suit states.

The woman, whom The News Tribune is not naming, was granted a temporary sexual assault protection order against Statewright in Pierce County Superior Court in August 2009.

She also filed a complaint about him with the state Department of Health, which regulates chemical dependency counselors.

The department suspended Statewright’s credential on Sept. 8, 2010, “pending further disciplinary proceedings,” according to an order issued by the department.

Attempts to reach Statewright for comment this week were unsuccessful.

In 2006, he told a judge in an unrelated case that he had overcome a drinking problem of his own, was working as a drug/alcohol counselor and was becoming a domestic violence counselor, according to court records.

Betty Kassuhn of Kassuhn Inc. said she fired Statewright after the state yanked his license. She declined further comment until she could review the lawsuit and speak to her corporate attorney.

The woman sought treatment at Alternative Counseling in August 2008 after being arrested for driving under the influence. Statewright became her treatment provider, the suit states.

He allegedly told her he had the power to keep her out of jail and that she didn’t really need treatment, according to the suit.

During one of her first sessions, Statewright insisted they leave the office and go to a nearby bar and restaurant, where he bought her numerous drinks, the suit alleges.

He later told her to follow him home, where he gave her more alcohol and ultimately persuaded her to have sex, according to the suit.

“After leaving the defendant Statewright’s house, (the woman) was stopped on her way home by a police officer,” the suit states. “She was again charged with driving under the influence.”

For nearly four months, Statewright used coercion, threats and other means to maintain control over the woman, according to the suit.

At one point, after the woman was put on electronic home monitoring following one of her DUI arrests, Statewright allegedly instructed a worker at Alternative Counseling to forge a letter from a local church that then was sent to the company providing the monitoring.

The letter asked officials to allow the woman to leave her home to attend church services and Bible studies, the suit states. In reality, it was so she could meet with Statewright, according to the suit.

“His control over (the woman) was relentless, and the alcohol and sexual abuse was continuous,” the suit states.

The woman “finally managed to break away” from Statewright in November 2008 and later began counseling at the Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County.

In January 2011, the woman again was charged with DUI – this time a felony – after a breath test registered her blood-alcohol level at 0.163, court records indicate. The legal limit for driving in Washington is 0.08.

She’s been jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail since, but Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff allowed her to travel to Tumwater earlier this month to testify at Statewright’s administrative hearing regarding the future of his counseling credential.

A final decision on Statewright’s credential is expected before the end of August, said Gordon McCracken, a spokesman with the state Department of Health.

Source:  Adam Lynn, “Suit alleges booze, sex instead of treatment at Spanaway counseling center Spanaway: Counselor accused of taking advantage of weakness,” The Bellingham Herald,  May, 25, 2011

Wisconsin social worker David A. Schneider blames 2001 brain operation for 2010 sexual assault on patient

On April 13, 2011, licensed clinical social worker David A. Schneider surrendered his license to the Wisconsin Marriage & Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board.

According to the Board’s Order, Schneider was convicted of sexual assault on December 3, 2010 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. The basis of the prosecution against him was “an incident in which he had inappropriate contact with a client.”

In surrendering his license, Schneider asserted that “a consequence of surgery in October 2001 to remove a tumor from his brain was impairment of impulse control, which was likely the cause of his inappropriate contact with his client.”

Source: Final Decision and Order #0000799, in the matter of the Disciplinary Order Against David A. Schneider, before the Social Work Section of the Wisconsin Marriage & Family Therapy, Professional Counseling and Social Work Examining Board.

State revokes license of psychiatrist Michael P. Anthony for sex with patient

On April 20, 2011, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine revoked the license of psychiatrist Michael P. Anthony.

The Board found that Anthony practiced medicine while impaired, had and inappropriate sexual relationship with the patient and committed breaches of confidentiality.

Source: “State Board of Medicine takes disciplinary action,” press release of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, April 20, 2011.

Italian psychiatrist Diego Chianese convicted of patient rape

On March 26, 2011, psychiatrist Diego Chianese of Merate, Italy, was given a 64-month conditional sentence for sexual violence (rape) with aggravating circumstances.

Chianese, who was employed at Mandic Hospital, was convicted of engaging in a sexual relationship with a vulnerable 35-year-old female patient who had come to him for treatment for depression.

Chianese never denied the relationship but argued that it was consensual and that the patient only filed the complaint against him when he refused to leave his wife for her.  However, the district attorney showed that the patient was in a condition of vulnerability which would have precluded her ability to give consent and would have enabled Chianese to exploit that psychological vulnerability for sex.

A conditional sentence does not include jail but provides for the condition that if he should commit a similar crime during the term of the sentence, he would have to serve the prison time for the first offense as well as any incarceration resulting from the second charge.

Chianese was additionally suspended for one year from private practice and banned for life from working in public hospitals and was also required to deposit 30,000 Euros ($40,000 USD) as a precautional deposit pending the outcome of a civil lawsuit against him.

Source: Laura Achler, “Five years sentence for the psychiatrist who abused his patient,” La Gazzetta di Lecco, March 26, 2011.

Indiana mental health counselor Heather Richardson loses license for sex with client

On December 17, 2010, the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board suspended indefinitely mental health counseling Heather L. Richardson for no less than two years for having engaged in a sexual relationship with a client.

According to the Board’s Order, in May 2009, Richardson, who then worked at the Center for Mental Health (“the Center”), disclosed to a co-worker that she was involved in a sexual relationship with one of her clients.

Her supervisor and human resources director at the Center were made aware of this and she admitted the same to them.

She was advised to not see or contact the client in the future because her behavior could be therapeutically damaging to the client.  She agreed that this would be better for the client.

She was then discharged from her employment at the Center.

Center employees contacted the client, who confirmed the sexual relationship and also his intention to continue seeing Richardson.

The document states that Richardson is currently engaged to be married to the client.

Source: Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order, in the Matter of the License of Heather L. Richardson, M.H.C., License No. 39001802A, Before the Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board, Cause Number 2010 BHSB 013.