Judge Sentences Former Columbia Gynecologist to 20 Years in Prison for Sexual Abuse of Patients
Prosecutors say former OBGYN Robert Hadden sexually abused dozens of his female patients, including minors, over many years.
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UPDATE JULY 27, 2023: A Manhattan federal judge has sentenced former Columbia University gynecologist Robert Hadden to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing his patients for more than two decades, reports the Associated Press. Hadden, 64, was convicted of abusing four patients between 1993 and 2012 in January.
Last year, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian agreed to pay more than $165 million to 147 women who say they were sexually abused by the former doctor.
ORIGINAL OCTOBER 18, 2022 ARTICLE:
New York, New York — Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian will pay more than $165 million to 147 women who say they were sexually abused by former gynecologist Robert Hadden.
Prosecutors say Hadden sexually abused dozens of his female patients, including minors, from 1993 to 2012 in his Manhattan offices, reports NBC New York.
In 2016, he pleaded guilty to two charges of forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse, reports the Daily Hornet. Although he never went to prison for these charges, he did surrender his medical license and register as a low-level sex offender.
Hadden also faces a separate federal indictment filed in 2020. Prosecutors allege he “induced” the victims in that case to travel across state lines “for the purpose of subjecting them to unlawful sexual abuse.” Hadden has denied those allegations.
The latest settlement follows an agreement in 2021 for $71.5 million by another former 79 patients of Hadden, reports CBS News.
The allegations against Hadden received renewed attention in 2020 when former presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s wife, Evelyn Yang, told CNN that she was sexually abused by the doctor.
Victim advocates say there are still many more victims of Hadden that have yet to come forward.
Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian are among the growing number of cases of university-based doctors being accused of sexual assault.
Earlier this year, the University of California system agreed to pay more than 300 women $375 million who claim they were sexually abused by former UCLA gynecologist James Heaps. That’s in addition to the millions more that has already been paid to victims. The total amount paid was nearly $700 million. The total amount was a record settlement paid by a public university and was about $200 million more than what was paid by Michigan State in 2018.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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