what to know
Judge Richard M. Berman announced his intent Monday at a sentencing hearing for Robert Hadden. Hadden, 64, has been in custody since his January conviction on four counts of enticing victims across state lines so he could sexually abuse them. The judge’s announcement of his sentencing plans sparked a complaint from defense attorney Deirdre von Dornum. She said it was too hard.
NEW YORK — A federal judge said Monday he plans to sentence a former gynecologist to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing dozens of patients over more than two decades at prestigious New York hospitals.
Judge Richard M. Berman announced his intent at a sentencing hearing for Robert Hadden that will continue Tuesday, when Hadden is expected to speak after some legal issues are resolved. The judge was expected to impose the sentence after the hearing resumes, unless he changes his mind.
Hadden, 64, has been in custody since his January conviction on four counts of enticing victims to cross state lines so he could sexually abuse them.
A 20-year sentence would be four times the approximately four to five year term the judge concluded the federal sentencing guidelines recommend.
Guidelines are calculated on a case-by-case basis to ensure that people convicted of specific crimes are generally treated equally, and judges can go below or above the guidelines, but must explain why.
The judge said crimes Hadden committed while working at hospitals including Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital warranted a longer sentence.
Berman said the case was unlike any he had seen before and involved “shocking, horrifying, beyond extraordinary and depraved sexual abuse.” She noted that the government has reported that at least 245 women among the thousands he treated have claimed Hadden abused them.
The judge’s announcement of his sentencing plans prompted a complaint from defense attorney Deirdre von Dornum. She said it was too hard.
“Here’s someone who has already lost everything, and you’re effectively giving him a life sentence,” Dornum said.
The attorney said her client was enduring harsh prison conditions in a federal lockup in Brooklyn, where inmates threaten him and extort money from his commissary.
Nine victims spoke at the first stage of the sentencing hearing late last month. Several attended the proceeding Monday but were not invited to speak again.
At trial, the women testified in graphic detail that Hadden repeatedly forced them to undergo sexualized breast exams and touched their vaginas in ways that appeared to be sexual rather than for medical purposes. They urged the judge to give him the maximum prison sentence possible.
In 1987, Hadden began working at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, which later became New York Presbyterian Hospital. The institutions agreed to pay more than $236 million to resolve civil lawsuits by more than 200 former patients.
2023-07-25 03:34:13
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