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A grand jury in the US state of Massachusetts has indicted a doctor who is accused of sexually assaulting more than 200 former patients over a period of more than a decade.
The patients sued Dr Derrick Todd, who has been accused of performing unnecessary pelvic floor therapy, breast examinations, testicular examinations and other unwarranted procedures on patients dating back to 2010.
The Middlesex District Attorney's Office said in a statement that Todd was indicted earlier that day for "two counts of rape alleging the sexual assault of two women".
Todd pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on Friday (local time) in which he was held on US$10,000 bail.
He was also ordered to stay away from and have no contact with victims, surrender his passport, surrender all medical licenses, not practice medicine and not apply for new passports or licenses, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office said.
The district attorney's office also said the two alleged assaults took place in December 2022 and June 2023, and that additional investigations into Todd's conduct were ongoing.
The criminal case against Todd would likely grow, said William Thompson, an attorney with Boston firm Lubin & Meyer, which represented more than 180 of the accusers.
Kristin Fritz, a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Dr. Derrick Todd, poses for a portrait, Monday, April 8, 2024
"It's just the beginning of the criminal case against Dr Todd, but it does help validate the civil claims that Lubin & Meyer is pursuing on behalf of so many of his former patients," Thompson said.
"Fundamentally, it's about a doctor abusing his position. And taking advantage of patients who put their trust in him for his own personal sexual gratification."
Thompson added that the civil case against Todd was currently in the process of discovery.
Todd was a former rheumatologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The lawsuit against him accused several other defendants, including the hospital, of knowing about the abuse and failing to halt it.
Brigham and Women's received anonymous complaints about Todd in April 2023 and launched its own investigation. The hospital fired him in July.
Todd then reached a voluntary agreement with the Board of Registration in Medicine to stop practising medicine anywhere in the United States.
Todd's former places of work have distanced themselves from the doctor since the allegations emerged. His accusers range from teenagers to women in their 60s.
Source: Associated Press
