Psychologist Julian Gordon, stabbed at home, is registered sex offender

Dr. Julian Gordon, a one-time psychologist in the Oakland County (Michigan) court system, spent 13 years in prison for raping a boy he was supposed to be counseling, according to reports.

After he got out of prison, the state gave him back his license, though he had been fired from Oakland County’s probate court in the 1990s. Gordon, 56, told the state he was a “reformed man.” But now he faces new allegations, WXYZ reports.

Another man has made a claim that Gordon tried to sexually assault him after he got out of prison.

WXYZ reports that he was counseling Tony Esparza, 27, at Nardin Park Recovery Center. Esparza told WXYZ that he did not know of Gordon’s history.

Esparza said Gordon told him he could help him find a job if he moved in to his Waterford condo with him.

And one night, Esparza told WXYZ that Gordon got into bed with him and started touching him inappropriately, trying to have sex with him. WXYZ reports that Esparza said he fought him off with a knife.

Esparza has filed a compliant with the state for approving Gordon’s license reinstatement.

Gordon worked for Oakland County from September of 1989 to June 4, 1997, when as a senior psychologist he was terminated after criminal charges were filed against him, said Kevin Oeffner, circuit court administrator.

He was sentenced to prison by Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Rae Lee Chabot.

Source: “Oakland County psychologist accused of sexual assault for second time,” Macomb Daily, May 23, 2014.

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Mental health counselor flogged me, introduced me to sadomasochism, says Pasco woman

Eleven years ago, a Pasco County woman we will call Mary Jane was coping with the loss of a child and sought help from licensed mental health counselor Adam Glatt.

“I was feeling depressed and overwhelmed,” she said.

But instead of relieving her pain, Mary Jane told 8 on Your Side, Glatt quite literally inflicted it after taking her as his lover and introducing her into a sadomasochistic lifestyle she had never known.

Mary Jane was a survivor of childhood molestation and still suffered post-traumatic stress from the death of her 49-day-old newborn son three years earlier. “I was feeling lost,” she said.

Her marriage was broken, she’d lost custody of her two daughters and her job was in jeopardy when she discovered Glatt’s name on a list of counselors through an assistance program from her then employer. “That is how I met him,” she said.

After Mary Jane began counseling sessions, she claims that Glatt, who was married at the time, began introducing her to the fetish lifestyle he lived outside of the office. She says it seemed so intriguing she eventually became Glatt’s “slave” in a sexual relationship that lasted for years.

In 2006, three years after her first office visit, public records show Mary Jane moved into the Paradise Lakes nudist resort in a garage apartment adjacent to Glatt’s residence. That’s when Mary Jane claims the sexual relationship started along with the alternative lifestyle she’d never experienced before meeting Glatt.

“I followed in after Adam because I trusted him,” she said. “I found myself in a space of not knowing what to do, where to go.”

Glatt somehow convinced Mary Jane that having this sexual relationship would help her, public records show. “The way I could heal from being molested as a child was to engage in a sexual relationship with him,” she told 8 on Your Side.

Florida law makes it a crime for mental health counselors to have sex with clients. The Florida Department of Health, which licenses counselors, calls it “sexual misconduct,” and the counseling profession’s national code of ethics also bans it.

A Florida Department of Health complaint in 2012 formally accused Glatt of committing acts of sexual misconduct against Mary Jane, including flogging.

She claims he tied her to a “St Andrews’s Cross” he kept in his bedroom, beat her with a whip, and practiced other forms of domination while she served for five years as his “submissive” or sex slave.

A photo of Glatt front in front of the cross Mary Jane claims he kept in his bedroom is among the exhibits in the DOH complaint. “I would never have believed it myself if I had not lived through it,” she said.

In a letter in the DOH case file, Matt Haftel, an attorney representing Glatt, denied any wrongdoing by his client and insisted that Glatt never engaged “in any form of sexual behavior” with Mary Jane.

(READ the letter from Glatt’s attorney here & here)

In an apparent effort to challenge her credibility, Haftel listed a litany of irrational behaviors and mental problems suffered by Mary Jane.

But several witnesses interviewed by investigators supported her story and spoke of seeing Glatt and Mary Jane appear at social gatherings and parties as boyfriend-girlfriend.

One man reported seeing them engage in public sex during fetish lifestyle parties on “several different occasions.”

“He brought me to private dungeons but also to private parties,” Mary Jane said. “It wasn’t like we were hiding from people necessarily.”

Mary Jane showed 8 on Your Side a photo depicting her in a provocative pose with Glatt at what she describes as one of the annual “Fetish Con” gatherings they attended together in Tampa.

Mary Jane claims her sexual relationship with Glatt continued for about five years until they had a falling out in late 2011.

In October 2012, social worker Nikki Daniels ran the Family Justice Center in Tampa. She filed a complaint with the DOH alleging that Glatt had abused Mary Jane, violated laws banning sexual relationships between therapists and patients, and had threatened to disclose Mary Jane’s medical records.

(READ the administrative complaint here)

“Absolutely, there’s no way he should have been allowed to practice,” said Daniels. “That is so far beyond anything that can be construed as appropriate.”

State DOH Investigators spent five weeks checking out Mary Jane’s allegations of kinky sex, flogging, and abuse by Glatt. They gathered evidence, interviewed witnesses and wrapped up their inquiry the week before Christmas 2012. It seemed like a closed case.

But for the next 16 months, the case floated in limbo while Glatt’s license remained in good standing with Florida and untouched by any of the scandalous allegations raised by Daniels and Mary Jane.

There is no indication in state records suggesting why the investigation appears to have gone dormant for more than a year after DOH investigators finalized their report in December 2012.

(READ investigation documents here, here & here)

During that time there was not even a whisper of Glatt’s troubles on the Florida Department of Health licensing website. No hint anyone had accused him of doing anything illegal or improper in the course of his mental health practice.

The website showed Glatt’s license as active, with no complaints or discipline that might have raised questions or concerns by other patients, fellow practitioners, or the public.

Glatt moved to Virginia in early 2012, before the DOH investigation began.

Based on his clean Florida record, Glatt obtained a Virginia license so that he could open a practice in that state in a community near Richmond known as Midlothian.

After leaving Florida, Glatt practiced as a mental health counselor in Midlothian for nearly two years under his Virginia license.

Daniels thinks that’s wrong, given what she regards as Glatt’s abusive treatment of Mary Jane.

“Someone who is as dangerous as he is to be allowed to practice anywhere is absolutely unacceptable,” said Daniels.

In February of this year—16 months after Daniels first complained to the state–the DOH investigation started moving forward again without explanation. Department of Health administrative prosecutors in charge of disciplining licensed counselors like Glatts had finally set in motion the process that would lead to the loss of Glatt’s Florida license.

Two months later, on April 25, Glatt officially surrendered his license at a Tampa meeting of the State of Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, & Mental Health Counseling.

As part of his agreement with the DOH, Glatt “does not admit any wrongdoing whatsoever.” But he had to give up his right to practice in mental health counseling in Florida.

From start to finish, Glatt’s hearing that day lasted exactly one minute and 55 seconds. Glatt was not present and board members accepted Glatt’s “voluntary relinquishment” without uttering a single word of admonishment about his behavior.

The board chairwoman didn’t have much to say after the meeting either. “We’ve done our very best to protect the public’s interest in this matter,” said Mary Bridgman. ”The case is concluded and I have no further comment.”

Six days later, after receiving official notice of Florida’s action, Virginia suspended Glatt’s license to practice in that state based on the fact that Glatt’s Florida license is no longer valid.

18 months had passed since Daniels first reported Glatt for sexual misconduct.

Richard Samet, Glatt’s lawyer in Virginia, told 8 on Your Side he is preparing an appeal.

Samet told 8 on Your Side that Glatt will not discuss any allegations until he resolves the suspension of his Virginia license. Samet insisted Virginia’s suspension was automatic and no one in that state has made any finding of fault by his client.

Meanwhile, Mary Jane is savoring the notion that Glatt, for the moment at least, is not allowed to treat any mental health patients in Florida or Virginia.

“I’m smiling because it’s a victory for people who seek out mental health services. It’s a victory for all of us,” she said. “I would tell him there’s an extra warm spot in Hell waiting for him.”

Source: Mark Douglas, “Mental health counselor flogged me, introduced me to sadomasochism, says Pasco woman,” WFLA TV-8 (Tampa), May 21, 2014.

School psychologist among men arrested in teen sex sting

Four Sacramento-area men, including two who have worked professionally with children, were arrested on federal charges of trying to arrange a sexual rendezvous with a teenaged girl.

During a three-week operation, a Citrus Heights police detective assumed the persona of the teen in online meetings with the men, all of whom discussed graphic sexual details and arranged a meeting with “the teen.”

All four are being charged with the attempted enticement of a minor, a federal crime which carries a minimum prison sentence of 10 years. All but one are being held without bail in the Sacramento County Jail.

The accused include:

Cameron Lovell, 27, of Sacramento
Roger Bartlett, 66, of Roseville
Gerald Lowrance, 42, of Woodland
  Kevin Wood, 35, of Rancho Cordova

According to court documents, Lowrance has had an association with the Autistic Programs Foundation and was fingerprinted for employment by the Woodland Joint Unified School District.

News10 has confirmed that Wood is actively working as a psychologist with special needs children at the Amador County Office of Education.

(Psych Crime Reporter notes that Mr. Wood evidently has “special needs” of his own.)

According to the criminal complaint, when Wood was questioned by police at a Citrus Heights park where the meeting had been arranged, Wood initially denied plans to have sex with the teen.

Wood reportedly told police he was a counselor who worked with children and that he had come to the park to “mentor” the girl.

“It’s shocking, quite frankly,” Amador County Unified School District Superintendent Dick Glock said.

Glock said a Citrus Heights police detective called his office on Tuesday to explain why Wood wouldn’t be coming to work.

“At this time we don’t believe there’s been any inappropriate activity in the district,” Glock said. “But obviously it’s very early and that’s one of the things we’ll be checking.”

The Citrus Heights Police Department was planning a news conference Thursday to formally announce details of the online operation.

Source: George Warren, “4 Sacramento-area men arrested in online teen sex investigation,” KXTV ABC-10 (Sacramento), May 15, 2014.

Florida psychiatrist Barry Kaplowitz arrested in continuing Hollywood Pavillion fraud case

When about 20 newly arrested Medicare fraud suspects appeared in Miami federal court on Monday, one stood out: Dr. Barry Kaplowitz.

The Aventura psychiatrist served as the medical director of an outpatient mental health facility in Hollywood that federal prosecutors say generated $7.5 million in false claims for Medicare patients who did not need psychiatric treatment.

So when Justice Department attorneys asked Magistrate Judge Patrick White to give the former Hollywood Pavilion doctor a bond of $300,000, he balked. The judge thought the amount was too low, so he doubled it to $600,000 — and ordered Kaplowitz to make a nonrefundable down payment of $45,000 on the bond.

“I think it’s worse for a doctor to be involved in healthcare fraud,” White declared. “It’s outrageous.”

Kaplowitz’s defense attorney, Brian Bieber, argued the higher bond was unfair, claiming the doctor was paid only $1,250 a month for his part-time services over the course of four years at Hollywood Pavilion.

But the judge would not budge, recognizing that Medicare fraud has been South Florida’s No. 1 federal crime for years.

Afterward, Bieber described his client as a “well-respected” doctor who has properly treated thousands of patients in South Florida.

Early Monday, federal agents arrested the 53-year-old Kaplowitz, along with Hollywood Pavilion’s former chief operating officer, Christopher Gabel, and an administrator responsible for admitting patients to HP’s inpatient facility, Melvin Hunter. Also charged was Tiffany Foster, a patient recruiter from Alabama.

On Monday, they were among about 20 suspects charged with fleecing the taxpayer-funded Medicare program for the elderly and disabled. Squads of agents with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General and other law enforcement agencies led what has become a periodic takedown of alleged Medicare fraud offenders in South Florida.

Since 2007, the Justice Department has teamed up with the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami to prosecute upward of 1,500 defendants in South Florida, ranging from Medicare-licensed clinic operators and patient recruiters to doctors and nurses. Collectively, the vast majority have been convicted of filing more than $3 billion in false claims for medical equipment, drug-infusion services, home healthcare, physical therapy and mental health treatment.

In the Hollywood Pavilion case, Kaplowitz, Gabel and Hunter were charged by Justice Department prosecutor Nicholas Surmacz with conspiring to commit healthcare fraud, wire fraud and related offenses. Gabel, Hunter and Foster were charged with conspiring to pay or receive kickbacks to generate Medicare patients at Hollywood Pavilion.

The magistrate judge ordered the same high bond terms for Gabel, 61, as he did for Kaplowitz: $600,000, including a $45,000 nonrefundable down payment.

Gabel’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, argued that his client, who lives in Davie, has longtime ties to the community. He said he would not flee before trial, noting that Gabel has been aware of the Hollywood Pavilion investigation for two years. He said Gabel made $150,000 a year as the Hollywood-based facility’s chief operating officer over a decade, and argued that he “didn’t directly profit” from the alleged scheme to defraud Medicare.

Again, the judge was not swayed.

Neiman declined to comment about his client.

As for Hunter, accused of admitting Medicare patients who did not need psychiatric treatment, the judge was more lenient — but not much. The judge set his bond at $300,000 — but the Broward resident has to come up with a $15,000 nonrefundable down payment.

Their arrests followed last year’s conviction of Hollywood Pavilion’s chief executive officer, Karen Kallen-Zury, who was found guilty along with three other employees of conspiring to bilk $67 million from Medicare by filing bogus claims for mental health services from 2003 to 2012. Medicare was duped into paying $40 million to Hollywood Pavilion, which operated an inpatient hospital and outpatient program.

A Miami federal jury found that Kallen-Zury and other employees covered up the scam by falsifying patient records to make their treatment look necessary, and fabricated marketing contracts with patient recruiters to make their services appear legitimate. The jury also found that Kallen-Zury and others paid kickbacks to recruiters who supplied Hollywood Pavilion with patients.

At her trial, Justice Department prosecutors described the Hollywood-based psychiatric facility as a “brothel of fraud.”

For her leadership role, Kallen-Zury got, by far, the longest sentence: The former CEO, who once lived along the water in Lighthouse Point, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Source: Jay Weaver, “Federal agents round up South Florida doctor and others in Medicare fraud takedown,” Miami Herald, May 12, 2014.

Hey, Montana resident: Is Dr. William Peak your psychiatrist? Have a peek at this.

A Billings child and adolescent psychiatrist who was stripped of his medical license two years ago has been granted a lifetime probationary license to practice adult psychiatry.

“I was a good psychiatrist before,” Dr. James H. Peak told the state Board of Medical Examiners after its decision Friday in Big Sky. “I will be a better one now.”

Peak, 52, had petitioned the state Board of Medical Examiners to reinstate his license since January.

Reinstatement of his license comes with a string of conditions, including that he practice psychiatry only with patients 18 years and older, that he provide every patient with a declaration of who he is and what he has done and that he limit his practice to 30 hours of on-site work per week initially. He will not be allowed to see patients off-site, according to Michael Fanning, a lawyer with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

Peak, who has been unable to find employment, is expected to open a private practice.

The board in January postponed Peak’s request until March. The delay was designed to give Peak time to come up with a plan to demonstrate he will be supervised by an expert, specifically Dr. Thomas Van Dyk, a psychiatrist and medical director at the South Central Montana Regional Mental Health Center in Billings. Van Dyk has been one of Peak’s most ardent advocates and mentors.

Van Dyk said he was hoping Peak could join the staff at the Mental Health Center but the chairman of the board of directors was not receptive due to the negative publicity Peak’s situation has generated.

Bill Kennedy, chairman of the Mental Health Center board of directors, said nothing of the negative publicity surrounding Peak’s quest for reinstatement.

“We already have four psychiatrists on staff,” Kennedy said, adding that the most recent was hired in November. “We do not need another psychiatrist. We are full.”

Van Dyk will serve as Peak’s mentor and supervisor. As such he will review all of Peak’s patient charts and observe him with patients three to four hours per week for the first 90 days.

Another of his supporters has been Michael J. Ramirez, clinical coordinator for the Montana Professional Assistance Program, who calls Peak a “model participant” in the program. MPAP’s purpose is to address the problems of physicians or dentists whose ability to practice has been impaired because of sexual misconduct, substance abuse, psychiatric illness or other issues. Peak will be a lifetime participant in the program.

Peak served just less than 10 months in a Seattle federal prison after pleading guilty in August 2011 to possessing child pornography. He had been employed as a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Billings Clinic since 1994.

Peak was also sentenced to a lifetime of probation in connection with his guilty plea.

Fanning said the federal probation sentence coupled with MPAP’s lifetime participation requirement will motivate Peak to comply with all conditions of his license reinstatement. If he does not comply, the response will be “swift and powerful.”

“We all hope that in time Dr. Peak demonstrates competency, safety and stability,” Fanning said. “Dr. Peak has been publicly humiliated. I have to admire him because the easy thing would have been to fade away. But his call to serve has outweighed the humiliation and embarrassment of what he has gone through.”

Since his release from prison, Peak has been working to restore not only his medical license but also his reputation and the trust he lost when his double life was exposed.

Since August, he has been volunteering 20 hours a week at the Mental Health Center in Billings, where he is helping update policies and procedures. He has had no contact with patients.

Source: Cindy Uken, “Peak’s medical license reinstated on ‘lifetime probationary’ status,” Billings Gazette, May 16, 2014.

New Zealand psych nurse loses license; convicted in wife’s death

A former Tauranga nurse convicted and jailed for manslaughter after his wife died following a methadone overdose, has been struck off, censured and ordered to pay costs by the New Zealand Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.

Ian Hamer was convicted and sentenced to ten years with a minimum non-parole period of five years on the manslaughter charge at the Rotorua High Court in December 2003.

An appeal against the conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal was dismissed.

The tribunal views registration as a privilege carrying with it obligations to act in a way which is in compliance with the moral and ethical standards normally observed by those who practice in that area, says tribunal chair Maria Dew.

“Mr Hamer omitted, without any lawful excuse, to undertake his legal duty to provide his sick wife with the necessaries of life and this omission caused her death and ultimately the conviction for manslaughter,” says the decision made in April.

Hamer, a registered psychiatric nurse since 1984, was on the methadone programme for an opium addiction when his wife took an overdose of his methadone following an argument.

At about 1am on February 9 2002, Mrs Hamer consumed between 100 and 150mg of her husband’s methadone. For a non-tolerant user of methadone, approximately 50mg can be a fatal dose, the court was told.

Hamer, a registered psychiatric nurse considered to have an increased knowledge of the risk of a high dose of methadone, didn’t call an ambulance for his wife until 6.30pm – more than 17 hours after she overdosed.

Trial judge Rhys Harrison didn’t accept Hamer’s claim he fell asleep for 12 hours after Mrs Hamer consumed the methadone. He was satisfied that the prolonged failure to call an ambulance was not only grossly negligent, but was deliberate.

He says Hamer noted his wife’s lips were blue from a lack of oxygen at 1pm, not 5pm as claimed and had propped her up with pillows as a deliberate step, taken with the knowledge that it would aggravate the brain damage she may have suffered, and that it had that effect.

He was satisfied Hamer knew of his wife’s dire medical condition and knew that the longer he waited the more likely it was that she would deteriorate and die.

Mrs Hamer spent about three weeks in hospital, initially in Tauranga then in Hamilton.

The former Malaysian national discharged herself on 1 March 2002 and resumed living with Mr Hamer before being readmitted to hospital on 4 March 2002. Her condition continued to deteriorate and she was transferred to a hospital in Malaysia where she died on 1 June 2002.

“Mr Hamer’s conduct towards his wife while she was vulnerable and unable to care for herself ultimately caused her death,” says the decision.

“The fact that Mr Hamer was a registered nurse of considerable experience substantially aggravates the offending in the mind of this Tribunal.

“The principal purpose of the Act is to protect the health and safety of members of the public and the Tribunal considers this can only be properly done by ordering Mr Hamer’s deregistration as a registered nurse.”

Hamer wasn’t worked as a nurse since 2002. He was also ordered to pay $5,531 as a share of costs.

The complaint to the tribunal was made in 2013, the hearing was in February 2014 and a decision was made in April.

Source: “Nurse struck off over wife’s death,” SunLive.com, May 19, 2014.

Directors of state psychiatric hospital suspended on allegations of patient neglect

KALAMAZOO, MI — The director of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital at 1312 Oakland Drive and the hospital’s director of nursing are currently suspended pending an investigation by the Michigan Department of Community Health into three allegations of neglect involving patients.

Angela Minicuci, public information officer for the MDCH, said Director James J. Coleman and Director of Nursing Sandra Boothby will be paid  pending investigation, which is the department’s normal protocol.
The suspensions will last the duration of the investigation, and MDCH will determine next steps based on the findings of the investigation, she said.

KPH is one of three state psychiatric hospitals in Michigan that provides adult inpatient psychiatric services to Michigan residents, with inpatient adult psychiatric services provided through a lease agreement with Western Michigan University,  according to the FY 2015 capitol outlay plan. That document says KPH operates with an average patient census of 160.

Currently, the acting director of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital is Cynthia Kelly, the bureau director at MDCH who oversees all Michigan state hospitals, Minicuci said.  “As she is very familiar with the operations of our hospitals, patient care has not been impacted and our day-to-day operations are continuing to ensure that patients receive care,” Minicuci said.

She would not reveal details of the allegations, the status of pay for the suspended directors, or answer questions about any other aspects of the investigation.

The Kalamazoo Gazette has filed a Freedom of Information request for more information about what led to the employee suspensions at the hospital.

Source: Rosemary Parker, “Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital directors suspended pending investigation by state,” www.mlive.com, May 19, 2014.

Ontario psychiartrist Stanley Dobrowolski gets 4 years prison for sexual assaults of female patients

“He was my support system, my parent, my confidant, my compass and my guide. He was my cheerleader,” she said as she stood before the man she had put all her trust in for over two decades. A man who sexually violated her and failed her in her time of need.

“Stanley Dobrowolski, I trusted you,” the woman –one of 22 women whose names are protected under a publication ban– told her former psychiatrist in court on Thursday while reading her victim impact statement. “The emotional damage and harm to my soul goes beyond the nine pages of submissions”

The stories of those 22 women, who were sexually violated by the London psychiatrist, were read into the record on Thursday by Assistant Crown Attorney Laurie Tuttle. They are accounts that 67-year-old Dr. Stanley Dobrowolski admitted were true. In all of the cases, the 21 women and one girl said Dobrowolski performed breast, vaginal or full body exams on them during appointments at his Old North home office.

The cases were detailed using the women’s initials only, because they were so nervous and anxious that they didn’t even want their full names read in court.

Dobrowolski plead guilty to 16 counts of sexual assault, one count of voyeurism and one count of breaching a court order on Thursday.

During the incidents, dating back as far as the mid-90s, many of the women were meeting with Dobrowolski to discuss issues related to depression, anxiety or traumatic life events. The court heard Dobrowolski often performed unnecessary exams and took pictures under the guise of checking for cancer of the breast and skin, or in one case to give advice about a breast reduction surgery.

After his arrest in Nov. 2012, London police investigators were able to recover from his computer almost 10,000 images of female patients in various states of undress or naked while he examined them, or touched them. Many of the women did not know they were being photographed, and say they never would have agreed to the examination if they knew they were being recorded.

A handful of the women told police the physical exams did not seem out of the ordinary, but in some of those cases Dobrowolski was under a 2005 divisional court order not to perform any kind of physical examination on his patients.

In one case, police found 2,140 photos of a woman who was 17 years old at the time some of them were taken. The girl was never officially his patient, because Dobrowolski told her it wold look bad on her record later on. He performed vaginal and breast exams on the girl, and told her he had to check for cancer because of her family history. Police found photos of the girl posing naked on a leather chair in his office, along with close-ups of her breasts and vagina. It was the only case that the Crown detailed evidence of secret video being taken. The girl had no idea she was being taped during the exams.

It’s only one of 22 eerily similar stories from female patients. Stories that detail Dobrowolski’s reassuring, but at time manipulative presence. Stories of multiple breaches of trust and gross misconduct on the part of a psychiatrist who spent 32 years practicing in London before his arrest.

On Thursday afternoon, four women read victim impact statements in court, while another 13 chose to submit statements to the judge in writing. Three women detailed how they were assaulted by Dr. Dobrowolski, and another told the court how he stole her well-deserved childhood by wrecking havoc on her family while treating her mother.

“My therapist. That kind, sensitive, caring man with whom I had shared my most intimate feelings,” one woman told the court, while visibly shaking from head to toe. “My friend… my rock… was nothing more than a sexual predator.”

“The incidents [of sexual assault] replay in my mind like a really bad dream,” another confided.

The woman who brought nine pages of notes asked the judge if she could take a spot on the witness stand so she could face her former psychiatrist. “I had hoped to face this man,” she told Justice Gregory Pockele. She cried for only a moment, before detailing years of support from “Dr. D” that she later realized wasn’t helping her at all. He once examined her breasts. “He so kindly offered to teach me how to self exam,” she said with just a slight edge of sarcasm. She said when she found out about the charges against Dobrowolski she had been trying to contact him in a time of crisis. She said she felts abandoned, and stunned at what he was capable of.

When she read all nine pages she walked down from the witness stand, only gathering the courage to look him in the eye as she walked by him.

“I needed you,” she told him between clenched teeth.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“I know you are,” she replied while looking away.

Dr. Stanley Dobrowolski was sentenced to four years in a federal penitentiary after his lawyer and the Crown made a joint submission. He will comply with a DNA order, he is banned from owning a gun for ten years, he will be listed on the sexual offender registry for the rest of his life and he is banned from communicating with any of the woman he sexually assaulted.

Before he was taken into custody he spoke with his back to his victims and former patients.

“Very briefly I just wish to say that I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I wish to apologize to my former patients, my family, and everyone who has been harmed by my misconduct… I’m very very very sorry…”

Then the surely soon-to-be-stripped-of-his-medical-license doctor walked out of the room through the prisoner’s dock with the eyes of almost a dozen victims on his back.

Source: Avery Moore, “Psychiatrist Sentenced to Four Years For Abusing Patients,” Blackburn News, May 15, 2014.

British Columbia police launch investigation of school psychologist charged in U.S. for child porn

Delta police are looking into whether children here may have been victimized by a school counselor charged in the United States with possessing child pornography.

In a case reported earlier this week, Point Roberts resident William Brook, who works as a psychologist for the Delta school district, was arrested and charged with possessing hundreds of images and videos of child porn, including scenes of children being sexually assaulted. He is alleged to have downloaded the material at his home.

Delta police spokesperson Sgt. Sarah Swallow said U.S. Homeland Security notified police here and the investigation by Delta police is still in its early stage. So far, it doesn’t appear there is any indication Brook was involved in criminal conduct on Canadian soil.

Swallow said police are working with the school district to notify parents, asking them to contact police if they learn anything inappropriate may have taken place.

Although police and the school district are not saying the schools Brook worked at or the ages of the children he dealt with, Swallow said the investigation must be handled carefully, so as to not place any suggestions to students that something happened when it may have not.

The Seattle P.I. reported earlier this week that acting on a tip, Homeland Security stopped Brook’s car May 7 as he attempted to cross the border into Point Roberts. Officers seized his school district-issued laptop he had in his possession, but no illegal images were found on that computer.

According to federal charges filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, investigators in a subsequent search of his home found 334 files believed to be child pornography on his laptop, as well as a four-gigabyte thumb drive filled with additional videos.

Those images and videos allegedly included the rape of very young children.

Brook was scheduled for a bail hearing Friday.

The charges against him at this point involve possessing child porn but don’t involve luring or abusing kids.

An article in Bloomberg Businessweek last month noted that since 2002, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, which analyzes photos flagged as potentially abusive, has reviewed 105 million child sex abuse images, including 24 million last year.

An article in this month’s edition of the Times Record, on-line news for Fort Smith, Western Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, reported that not only has the Internet made it easier for people to find and distribute child pornography, but the nature of images has changed in the Internet age.

“Way back, it was still images of a child lying on a blanket with their bottom exposed or (the photo was) focused on their genitals. Now there are actual videos of infants being raped and young boys being sodomized by adults. Those are so heinous and so shocking relative to what it used to be,” said Kyra Jenner, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, quoted in the article. “They’re crime-scene photos.”

Source: “Delta police launch own investigation in school psychologist charged in U.S. for child porn,” Delta Optimist, May 15, 2014.

Vegas mental health therapist convicted, sentenced for Medicaid fraud

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas woman was sentenced today in a Medicaid fraud case involving the intentional failure to maintain adequate records to support Medicaid claims.

Romeeka Naytesa Richardson, 33, was convicted of one gross misdemeanor offense of intentional failure to maintain adequate records, was sentenced to 150 days, suspended, performance of 80 hours of community service and payment of $25,000 in restitution, penalties, and costs by District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt.

“Richardson committed fraud by not keeping truthful case records and took from the Medicaid system,” Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said. “Cases like these in which the owner of a behavioral health company misuse their power, keep services from going to people who truly need them. This conviction will help deter future fraud and ensure continued support of those in need of services.”

The investigation began after the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received information that Richardson was submitting claims to Medicaid for reimbursement claiming that her company, All About You Behavioral Health Services, was providing behavioral health services that were not actually provided.

(Psychcrime note: Richardson is licensed in the state of Nevada as a behavioral analyst.)

The investigation revealed that Richardson submitted claims and prepared documentation for services allegedly provided to Medicaid recipients that were inaccurate. Richardson paid an employee to fill out progress notes as if that employee had provided services, when in fact Richardson knew that was not the case. The records maintained by Richardson did not note the actual provider of services, dates of service, or types of service provided to the Medicaid recipients.

The fraud occurred from January 2012 through May 2012.

Source: “Las Vegas woman convicted of Medicaid fraud, News 3 (Las Vegas, NV), May 13, 2014.