Doctor sexually assaulted children and played porn during physical exams, feds say
A urologist sexually assaulted and abused patients, including at least two underage victims, for years while working at medical facilities in New York, federal officials said.
Dr. Darius Paduch, 55, of North Bergen, New Jersey made victims believe the abuse was “medically necessary and appropriate” and regularly instructed them to return for follow-up visits where further assaults would occur, according to prosecutors.
He was arrested on April 11 on charges including inducement of a person to travel to engage in unlawful sexual activity and inducement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity in connection with two of the underage victims, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced in a news release.
Paduch, who specializes in male fertility and reproductive health, conducted his minor patients’ physical exams when their parents and nursing staff were absent from the room, according to an indictment.
During these exams, he directed victims to masturbate, would often play pornography, groped the patients and used a vibrating sex toy on them, the indictment says.
“Darius Paduch abused the trust of patients, including minors, who saw him for sensitive medical problems,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “(He) took advantage of his victims for his own deviant satisfaction.”
Information regarding Paduch’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
‘No legitimate medical purpose’
Paduch worked at one New York City medical institution from 2003 until 2019 and a second institution in Long Island from 2019 until 2023, according to prosecutors.
One of Paduch’s patients was 18 when the doctor convinced him to masturbate, groped him and pressed himself against him during appointments in 2016, according to CBS New York.
“I’ve spent a long time questioning my body, whether there was something wrong with me or if I did something to produce that reaction from my doctor. I couldn’t trust my own judgment,” Tucker Coburn told the outlet in an interview.
The two underage patients described in the indictment both traveled from out of state to see Paduch beginning in 2015.
During appointments with one minor patient, Paduch “routinely recommended” his parent to leave the room before the assaults and abuse ensued, according to the indictment.
When seeing the second minor victim described in the indictment, Paduch would regularly direct him to strip naked before abusing and assaulting him while alone in the exam room, the indictment says.
He also repeatedly conducted unnecessary rectal exams on this patient, according to the indictment.
Paduch “claimed that he needed to touch victims in certain ways to provide medical treatment, when in fact, (he) sexually abused and assaulted those victims for no legitimate medical purpose and for his own sexual gratification,” the indictment says.
Following appointments, prosecutors said he would often text victims, including those underage, while making “inappropriate sexual comments and jokes” from his personal cell phone.
He also instructed some victims to see him outside his typical business hours, according to prosecutors.
Paduch pleaded not guilty to the charges against him at his first court appearance and was detained on April 11, according to the New York Times.
The criminal case against Paduch comes after lawsuits were filed against him by his victims, including those mentioned in the indictment, according to the Times.
In the lawsuits, some of the abuse is said to have taken place at Northwell Health on Long Island, the outlet reported.
Barbara Osborn, the vice president of public relations for Northwell Health, confirmed in a statement to McClatchy News on April 12 that Paduch formerly worked there and no longer does.
Osborn said the allegations made against him are being taken “very seriously” and Northwell “will cooperate with the appropriate authorities as they conduct their investigation.“
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