Child Psychiatrist Arrested for Sexually Abusing Patients

A well known psychiatrist was arrested Thursday after allegations that he molested several children he was treating.

Once the president of The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. William Ayres is now being accused of sexual abuse of male patients under the age of 14. Some of the cases of molestation go as far back as the 1960's and the psychiatrist is just now facing charges as the information has come to the public's attention. Investigators have been looking into allegations from numerous now grown patients for the past four years.

Dr. Ayres lives in San Mateo California and is 75 years old. He has been a practicing child psychiatrist for decades, though he recently retired just last year. In 2002 he was honored with a lifetime achievement award quoted as "his timeless effort to improve the lives of children and adolescents" by the San Mateo board of supervisors.

He now faces 14 felony counts of sexual molestation for allegedly abusing teenage boys in his care. Current charges include accusations of frequently fondling 3 boys from 1991-1996 who were treated by the psychiatrist at his private practice. The statute of limitations allows up to 10 years to press criminal charges or in the case of child abuse, until the victim is 28 years old. In this case, the grown men are now 21, 25 and 26 years of age.

Other victims have come out of the woodwork as a result of the current allegations and investigators suspect he has been molesting child patients since the early 1960's. Many of the other alleged victims fall outside of the statute of limitations, so charges will not be brought forth as a result of their testimony. However, the fact that they have came forward and shared their stories will show a behavior pattern and will likely help prosecutors strengthen their case against the psychiatrist.

Arraignment is set for Friday and today Dr. William Ayres sits in jail with a $1.5 million dollar bail bond.

In a previous case, a patient sued the psychiatrist in 2003 claiming he was sexually abused while in the Dr's care at age 13. The victim testified that he was molested several times when the Dr. was reportedly doing a physical exam. The case was settled confidentially out of court and Ayres said under oath he did not remember the patient or the alleged abuse.

As a child psychiatrist, it is not completely out of the scope of care to perform physical exams but it's also not something that would likely be a common occurrence. It seems like this particular Dr. used medical exams as a cover for molesting his young innocent victims. What is a real tragedy is that he was a Doctor that parents trusted to care for and treat their children. He took advantage of that role and as a result has scared his patient for life.

Sources:

Kim Curtis. "Child Psychiatrist Accused of Molestation" AP

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-psychiatrist-molestation,0,4695113.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines