A former family physician in Oregon accused of widespread sexual abuse by his patients has had his bail reduced by 80% in a pre-trial release hearing.
Five days earlier, a different circuit court judge had set bail for David Farley at $500 000, after the former doctor pleaded not guilty to 11 felony counts related to the alleged abuse, reports OPB.
But last week, Judge Katherine Weber reduced this amount to $100 000 at the request of his defence attorney. Farley will need to post 10% of that amount to get out of Clackamas County Jail, where he has been in custody since turning himself in before last week’s arraignment.
His lawyer argued that the original bail of $500,000 “far exceeded” what Farley could afford and was five times higher than what Oregon Department of Justice prosecutors previously agreed to.
Farley, who had also been a respected member and councillor of the Mormon Church, has been accused of sexual abuse by 180 women and girls, according to a separate civil complaint. These former patients are suing him and the medical institutions where he worked in a lawsuit seeking nearly $1bn in damages.
His legal team said there was little risk of Farley abusing others while out on bail because allegations against him occurred in a medical setting, and Farley is no longer practicing medicine. He surrendered his medical license to the Oregon Medical Board in 2020.
The lawyers also argued that Farley intends to return to Utah, where he has lived for the past few years.
The accusers in this case, they said, “do not live in the State of Utah”.
But in court documents associated with the civil complaint, Farley is accused of following one of his former patients in Utah, at an airport, where she then sought help from security officials.
Farley did not answer that question, or nearly any other during the deposition, instead stating his right against self-incrimination.
One of the three former patients included in the criminal case appeared in the court last week, reading out a letter before the judge made the decision to reduce Farley’s bail.
Identified only as LV, she called Farley a “manipulator”, saying the former doctor “uses kindness as a weapon and trust as a doorway”.
“As a child I adored him. He used my trust to gain access to my body, and to violate my safety in ways that have shaped the rest of my life.”
Long history
In 2016, an Oregon teenager went to see Farley, who was a long-time family doctor, for a physical before her missionary trip. Like him, the teenager was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
He allegedly convinced her that a penetrative pelvic exam was necessary at such an appointment – a line he frequently used even when evaluating elementary school aged patients for a sports physical.
Eight years later, the teenager, now in her 20s, saw on social media that Farley had been accused of sexually abusing his patients by masking his actions as legitimate medical care. She is now one of more than 170 of his former patients suing him and the hospitals and clinic at which he worked.
Her story, detailed in the lawsuit, is echoed in the stories of other girls who grew up in the conservative church.
These patients said they received little if any sexual education and did not know what to expect at a gynaecologist appointment, or what kind of conduct to watch out for.
As not only a respected leader within the church but a doctor with a degree from Harvard University, Farley seemed inherently trustworthy.
Though widespread allegations of sexual abuse against Farley first came to light five years ago, the church has not had to answer for the part it allegedly played – until this year.
Legacy Meridian Park Hospital, one of the medical institutions where Farley practiced and allegedly abused patients, is attempting to subpoena records from the LDS church, which could shed light on what church leaders knew, or should have known, about the alleged abuse.
In response, the church has filed a motion for a protective order, hoping to prevent any disclosure of documents. Along with Farley, Legacy is one of the defendants in the nearly billion-dollar lawsuit.
Providence Willamette Falls Medical Centre, where Farley also practiced, and the community clinic he opened three decades ago, are named in the suit as well.
Until his medical licence was revoked in 2020 for photographing the breasts and genitals of underage children and other sexual misconduct, Farley practised family health, obstetrics and gynaecology in Clackamas County, Oregon, for more than 30 years. He opened the West Linn Family Health Centre in the early 1990s.
Farley abruptly retired from the clinic in 2020 after losing his medical license and moved to Idaho. There he briefly worked as a substitute teacher until locals learned of the allegations against him, and then moved to Utah.
In Oregon, Farley was the subject of a two-year criminal investigation into his conduct by local police. That investigation, which lasted between 2020 and 2022, led to zero charges for the doctor and was disparaged by his former patients who said the officers and prosecutors handling the case were “grossly incompetent”, “dismissive” and “belittling”.
The patients felt the criminal investigation was so poor they asked the Oregon Attorney General’s office to review the case.
OPB News article – Judge cuts bail for West Linn doctor accused of sexual abuse (Open access)
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