Liver doctor accused of groping women in exams, CA officials say. More victims feared
A liver doctor has been charged after being accused of groping two women during medical exams, California prosecutors say.
John Carl Hoefs, 79, of Irvine, was charged with seven “felony counts of sexual battery,” the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a May 9 news release.
“Sexual predators come in all forms and in all walks of life – even ones wearing white doctors’ coats,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release. “Women seeking potentially life-saving medical treatment should not be subjected to sexual abuse by the medical professional they have entrusted with their lives.”
In an email to McClatchy News, a district attorney’s office spokesperson said information for Hoefs’ attorney was not immediately available.
Starting in 2020, prosecutors said the hepatologist, a doctor who treats liver problems, is accused of touching a “female patient suffering from a liver condition” on five different visits.
During the incidents, prosecutors said Hoefs would fold over the woman’s gown, “exposing her breasts.”
Hoefs is accused of then grabbing the woman’s breasts, according to prosecutors.
Though the woman “tried to cover herself,” prosecutors said Hoefs would again move the gown, exposing her chest “for the remainder of the exam.”
He is also accused of touching another patient’s breasts during exams in November 2016 and October 2017, according to prosecutors.
Incidents involving both women were “at a Hoag affiliated medical office in Irvine,” prosecutors said.
Hoag did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on May 10.
In a statement provided to ABC7 News, a spokesperson for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian said Hoefs was not an employee of the company’s hospital or any affiliates.
Hoefs ran a private practice, leasing a space in the building, the news outlet reported.
“Upon learning of this news, Medical Staff immediately suspended his staff privileges,” the statement says, the news outlet reported.
Hoefs has also been affiliated with two medical facilities in Irvine: the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, and the Liver Specialty Center, prosecutors said.
The latter facility did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on May 10.
In an email to McClatchy News, a spokesperson for the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, said Hoefs retired from the university in 2009 and does not currently see any patients at its facilities.
Hoefs, who was arrested May 3 and released on $500,000 bail, is expected to appear in court again on June 13, according to prosecutors.
If convicted on all counts, prosecutors said Hoefs could face up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors said they believe Hoefs may have additional victims, adding anyone with additional information is asked to contact police at 949-724-7170.
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