Former Columbia University OB-GYN convicted of sex trafficking charges
Misty Severi
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A former gynecologist at Columbia University was convicted of four sex trafficking charges Tuesday in Manhattan. He has sexually abused multiple female patients during his career.
Robert Hadden, who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two women as part of a deal seven years ago, was accused of luring four women across state lines in order to sexually abuse them.
He pleaded not guilty to six counts of enticing and inducing victims to his medical offices and subjecting them to unlawful sexual abuse, according to ABC. He was convicted of four counts of enticing and inducing individuals to travel interstate to engage in illegal sexual activity, ABC reported.
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Each of the charges carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and Hadden is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25, according to ABC News.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams issued a statement after the verdict. He called Hadden “a predator in a white coat.”
“For years, he cruelly lured women who sought professional medical care to his offices in order to gratify himself,” Williams said according to the Associated Press. “Hadden’s victims trusted him as a physician, only to instead become victims of his heinous predilection.”
Hadden allegedly abused women for nearly two decades — from 1993 to 2012. The abuses occurred when he pretended to medically examine them, including their “most private parts,” according to prosecutors.
“He donned his white coat and took the oath all doctors do to ‘do no harm’ and then he did the exact opposite,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Kim told the jury.
Hadden’s defense team did not deny the abuse occurred but claimed he had already been punished under the plea deal in which he had to give up his medical license. His attorney also claimed Hadden could not have enticed anyone to cross state lines because he did not know where patients were coming from before the meetings.
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Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian, where Hadden worked, have agreed to settlements of more than $236 million combined with almost 230 of Hadden’s former patients, according to ABC.