A former Columbia University gynecologist has been indicted for allegedly sexually abusing female patients including a minor for nearly two decades.
The unsealed indictment in US District Court for the Southern District of New York accuses Robert Hadden, 62, of six counts of enticing and inducing dozens of victims to travel to his medical offices in New York and subjecting them to unlawful sexual abuse from about 1993 to 2012. The charges involved a minor and five adults. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss at a news conference called Hadden “a predator in a white coat.”
According to Isabelle Kirschner, Hadden’s attorney, he appeared before a federal judge on Wednesday and entered a not guilty plea. She said the judge ordered Hadden released on a $1 million bond secured by his home, and for him to be monitored. He is not out of custody yet.
In a statement, Strauss said that Hadden was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with enticing and inducing six victims to travel interstate to engage in illegal sexual activity.
The women who came forward to accuse the former doctor included Evelyn Yang, wife of the former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. She said in a CNN interview in January that she was sexually assaulted by Hadden.
“They are long overdue. This physician abused dozens of women, including minors, under the guise of practicing medicine and should not be walking free,” Yang said. She added that she was not one of the accusers identified in the indictment.
Federal authorities asked that anyone who may have worked with the former OB/GYN to come forward if they noticed suspicious behavior.
Strauss said the former doctor “inappropriately touched, squeezed, and even licked his victims.”
“For many victims, Hadden was their first gynecologist,” she added.point 173 | “Many of Hadden’s victims did not know what to expect during an OB/GYN examination and were less likely to challenge Hadden when he engaged in sexually abusive behavior.point 327 |
Many didn’t know that his examinations were inappropriate and so returned to see him for years.point 86 | ”point 93 | 1
Hadden allegedly “used his position as a medical doctor at a prominent university … to make or to attempt to make his victims believe that the sexual abuse he inflicted on them was appropriate and medically necessary,” according to the unsealed indictment. He allegedly “encouraged his victims to return to see him and often directed his victims to schedule follow-up visits on timelines he set.”
The indictment accuses the doctor of creating “opportunities to be alone with his victims,” sending nurses and medical assistants out of the exam room, attempting to “develop a rapport with them and put them at ease by asking them questions about their personal lives and telling them about his own life and family,” and bringing “up inappropriate and medically irrelevant sexual topics without prompting from his patients.point 492 |
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Hadden, formerly a doctor in Columbia University’s hospital system, was facing nine charges relating to sexual abuse allegations when he made the plea deal. He pleaded guilty to two counts: criminal sexual act in the third degree and forcible touching.
Allegations made by Yang and others earlier this year sparked outrage over the terms of the deal. Hadden had surrendered his medical license, but received no prison time, probation, or community service.