A gynecologist who molested sufferers throughout a many years lengthy profession was convicted of federal intercourse trafficking costs Tuesday after 9 former sufferers advised a New York jury how the physician they as soon as trusted attacked them sexually once they had been most susceptible.
A Manhattan federal court docket jury returned its verdict after deliberating lower than a day within the case in opposition to Robert Hadden, 64, who labored at two prestigious Manhattan hospitals – Columbia College Irving Medical Middle and New York-Presbyterian Hospital – till complaints about his assaults shut down his profession a decade in the past.
Greater than 200 of his former sufferers have settled lawsuits in opposition to Columbia College, reaching agreements totalling greater than $230 million — and the accusations in opposition to him had been central to a marketing campaign for the New York Grownup Survivors Act, which in November opened a one-year window for survivors of sexual abuse to file lawsuits that may in any other case be barred by statutes of limitations.
Hadden’s legal professionals admitted that their consumer had sexually abused sufferers, however they mentioned his responsible plea to costs in state court docket seven years in the past put these crimes behind him.
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Prosecutors mentioned federal costs had been applicable as a result of Hadden, of Englewood, New Jersey, enticed girls to cross state traces so he might assault them.
Protection legal professionals argued that he did not know sufferers had been coming from different states, together with New Jersey and Nevada.
After the decision, U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams issued a statement during which he referred to as Hadden “a predator in a white coat.”
“For years, he cruelly lured girls who sought skilled medical care to his places of work with a purpose to gratify himself. Hadden’s victims trusted him as a doctor, solely to as a substitute turn out to be victims of his heinous predilection,” he mentioned.
The decision capped a two-week trial that featured a procession of former sufferers who described how the physician questioned them about their private lives, together with their sexual expertise, earlier than touching them inappropriately on the breasts or between their legs.
An indictment charged Hadden with sexually abusing sufferers from 1993 via at the least 2012, though a prosecutor famous throughout a closing argument on Monday {that a} nurse testified that he was molesting sufferers within the late Eighties.
“He donned his white coat and took the oath all docs do to ‘do no hurt’ after which he did the precise reverse,” Assistant U.S. Lawyer Jane Kim advised the jury.
She mentioned he tried to “conceal behind his white coat” and the status of Columbia College as he gained over susceptible sufferers earlier than sexually abusing them.
In her closing, protection lawyer Kathryn Wozencroft mentioned what a few of Hadden’s sufferers endured at his fingers was “disgusting and horrible,” however that his state court docket convictions lined these crimes.
She argued that the federal costs had been inappropriate as a result of they required that Hadden entice his victims to cross state traces when he was unaware prematurely of which sufferers he would deal with every day and the place they had been coming from.
Amongst former sufferers who’ve spoken publicly was Evelyn Yang, whose husband, Andrew Yang, ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for president in 2020 and for New York Metropolis mayor in 2022.
In 2020, she mentioned Hadden sexually assaulted her eight years prior, even when she was seven months pregnant. She had referred to as the sentence within the state case a “slap on the wrist.”
The Related Press typically withholds the names of sexual abuse victims from tales until they’ve determined to inform their tales publicly, which Yang and others have completed.
Columbia College has beforehand referred to as Hadden’s conduct “abhorrent” and in October mentioned it has adopted insurance policies to make sure sufferers “are protected and empowered whereas in our care.”
“We deeply remorse the ache that Robert Hadden’s sufferers suffered and hope that these resolutions will present some measure of help for the ladies he damage,” the college mentioned on the time. “All those that got here ahead ought to be counseled.”
Graham Kates contributed to this report.
