2023-07-24 20:45:02
A former New York gynecologist, accused of sexual assault by dozens of patients, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison by a federal court in Manhattan.
Robert Hadden, 64, was convicted in January of sexually assaulting dozens of women seeking medical treatment.
The former doctor, who has not practiced since 2012, was described as “a predator in a white coat” by Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams.
Judge Richard Berman, who handed down the judgment, said the case was “unlike any other”, calling the assaults “horrible” and “depraved”, reported the American broadcaster ABC.
Mr. Hadden, who practiced in particular at the Irving Medical Center of the prestigious New York Columbia University (CUIMC), was accused by dozens of victims, including minor patients, of assaults committed between the early 1990s and 2012.
Among them is the wife of an entrepreneur who entered politics and candidate for the Democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election, Andrew Yang.
Evelyn Yang had confided in 2020 on CNN to have been sexually assaulted in 2012, when she was seven months pregnant, which she had never confided to her husband.
In 2016, Robert Hadden pleaded guilty in New York state court to lesser charges. He was then stripped of his medical license and placed on the sex offenders register, but the deal saved him from jail.
In 2022, the CUIMC and its affiliated New York Presbyterian Hospital announced that they would jointly pay more than $165 million to 147 former patients who accused Robert Hadden of inappropriate acts and sexual assault.
A year earlier, the two establishments had already promised 71.5 million dollars to 79 other patients of the former doctor.
Columbia University said that over the past decade, the practices of the CUIMC’s obstetrics and gynecology departments have been reviewed to prevent such attacks from happening again.
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