Published
New YorkThe gynecologist was a great sexual predator
The practitioner, accused by more than 200 women of having abused them, was convicted and faces life in prison. His hospital paid more than 200 million in damages.
Robert Hadden had already pleaded guilty in 2016 (photo), but to lighter charges and he had avoided prison.
NY Daily News via Getty Images
A former New York gynecologist, who had been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women, was convicted on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, where he faces life in prison.
“Robert Hadden was a predator in a white coat. For years, he cruelly lured into his offices women who were hoping for professional medical care in order to satisfy his pleasures,” Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams lambasted shortly after the verdict. He hailed the “brave women” who testified against him, including some at trial.
The 64-year-old former doctor, who practiced in particular at the Irving Medical Center of the prestigious New York University of Columbia (CUIMC), had been accused by hundreds of victims, including minor patients, between the beginning of the 1990s and 2012 .
The wife of a Democratic candidate
Among them was the wife of an entrepreneur who entered politics and candidate for the Democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election, Andrew Yang. Evelyn Yang had confided in 2020 on CNN to have been sexually assaulted in 2012, when she was seven months pregnant, which she had never confided to her husband.
At the end of the trial, Robert Hadden was found guilty on Tuesday of four counts for which he faces 20 years in prison each. Sentencing will be handed down on April 25. The gynecologist, who had not practiced since 2012, pleaded guilty in a New York state court in 2016 to lesser charges. He was then stripped of his medical license and placed on the sex offenders register, but the deal saved him from jail.
On Oct. 7, 2022, CUIMC and its affiliated New York Presbyterian Hospital announced that they would jointly pay more than $165 million to 147 former patients who accused Robert Hadden of inappropriate acts and sexual assault. A year earlier, the two establishments had already promised 71.5 million dollars to 79 other patients of the former doctor.
(AFP)
