A Manhattan gynaecologist, described as a “depraved predator in a white coat”, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars last week after being convicted of sexually assaulting patients during examinations.
Robert Hadden (64) was convicted in January of abusing four patients during his tenure at Columbia University Irving Medical Centre and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, two top New York hospitals, reports The Guardian.
Prosecutors said he lured out-of-state patients to his rooms in New York specifically to abuse them, with Judge Richard Berman saying the case was “like no other in my experience in terms of horrendous, beyond extraordinary, depraved sexual assault”.
The disgraced ex-doctor was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release after his 20-year sentence and a $10 000 fine as well as a $400 special assessment fee.
In court, his conduct was described as “exceptional and unprecedented”, “shocking in the extreme”, “horrific” and “depraved”, and he was lambasted for preying on patients who trusted him, a repeated violation of a “woman’s right to decide what happens to her body”.
During the trial, 11 victims delivered harrowing testimonies of abuse under his care, but it is believed Hadden abused at least 245 women while he was a gynaecologist.
Patient reports of abuse dated back to 2012, the same year Hadden stopped working as a doctor.
He surrendered his medical licence after being convicted in 2016 on sex-related charges in state court but was not sentenced to prison.
His victims previously sued Columbia University Irving Medical Centre and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Hadden’s former employers. The hospitals agreed to pay more than $200m to 226 former patients across two legal settlements in 2021 and 2022.
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