https://www.facebook.com/usaosdny/videos/256724158756184/
New charges have been filed against Robert Hadden, the former Columbia University gynecologist who pleaded guilty in 2016 to sexually assaulting pregnant patients.
The federal government filed the charges in a Manhattan court.
Robert Hadden is the Columbia Univ. gynecologist accused of sexually abusing the wife of former presidential candidate @AndrewYang
Hadden has been indicted on charges he abused 6 victims, including a minor. None named in the federal indictment. https://t.co/QByEJAdLB7— Aaron Katersky (@AaronKatersky) September 9, 2020
Press conference today at 12:00 p.m. to announce the unsealing of an indictment against Robert Hadden, a former NYC university medical practice obstetrics-gynecology physician, for allegedly sexually abusing patients. The press conference will be livestreamed on Facebook@USAOSDNY pic.twitter.com/ZJdKxC64qm
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) September 9, 2020
Audrey Strauss, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters in a press conference Wednesday morning that Hadden sexually abused women in a period between 1993 and 2012 at his Manhattan offices. Acting “as a predator in a white coat,” Hadden used medical examinations as a cover, the prosecutor said.
He would touch, squeeze, or even lick victims, she said. The survivors included several minor girls, including one that he had personally delivered as a baby, Strauss said. Hadden would allegedly arrange to be alone with his victims, and get close to them by sharing information about his own life, and asking them questions about theirs to gain their trust.
The women and girls either had Hadden as their first gynecologist, or he was the doctor for their first pregnancy. In other words, they did not know what to expect during appointments, and the doctor allegedly took advantage of this.
The defendant pleaded guilty in 2016 in a Manhattan state court to sexually assaulting two pregnant patients. He had originally been charged with abusing six. Hadden dodged jail time in exchange for promising to never practice medicine again, and registering as a low-level sex offender.
But the number of alleged victims is way more than six. Dozens more surfaced, especially after Evelyn Yang, the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, said that Hadden abused her.
“I was in the exam room, and I was dressed and ready to go,” she told CNN in a January report. “Then, at the last minute, he kind of made up an excuse. He said something about, ‘I think you might need a C-section,’ and he proceeded to grab me over to him and undress me and examine me internally, ungloved.”
Authorities ask that anyone who believes they may be a victim to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The law office that represents Hadden in a related class action lawsuit did not immediately return a Law&Crime request for comment.
[Screengrab via Department of Justice]
