Michigan psychiatrist charged with 14 more crimes involving sex with patients

Fourteen additional criminal charges, all but one involving sexual assault, have been filed against a Monroe psychiatrist who is accused of having inappropriate relations with up to eight women who were his patients.

Dr. Abdullahi A. Mohamed, 58, who lives in Dearborn Heights but has a practice in Monroe, remains free on a $100,000 bond. The 14 criminal charges were filed by the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office. Dr. Mohamed is expected to be arraigned on those charges later this month.

Assistant Prosecutor Amara Hunter reported that after the psychiatrist was charged in May with sexually assaulting a patient in his office, numerous other female patients came forward to report assaults ranging from fondling to oral sex.

“He abused his authority,” Ms. Hunter said. “They were vulnerable.”

Of the 14 additional charges filed 13 were criminal sexual conduct- fourth degree, mental health professional, which is a two-year misdemeanor, but is treated by the courts as a felony. The 14th count was assault and battery.

In May Dr. Mohamed was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct-third and fourth degrees after a woman contacted police to report that she was sexually assaulted during a visit at Dr. Mohamed’s office at the Outpatient Behavioral Health Center at 700 Stewart Rd. Third degree sexual assault carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Once that incident became public, numerous other patients contacted the Michigan State Police to report that they also had been assaulted. Detective Sgt. Marc Moore of the Monroe post said the 14 charges were the result of eight additional victims who came forward.

Ms. Hunter said the victims were patients of Dr. Mohamed, who accepted their Medicare insurance and filled their prescriptions. She said it appeared they succumbed to his advances because they were afraid that he would not prescribe their medicine and there were no other area psychiatrists who accept Medicare.

Sgt. Moore said all the victims are women and most had been patients of Dr. Mohamed for months or years without incident. However, all reported his behavior changing around January.

Dr. Mohamed has an office in Dearborn but Ms. Hunter said authorities in Wayne County have not had any similar reports filed. Dr. Mohamed also was a staff physician at Mercy Memorial Hospital and reportedly has been terminated but that could not be verified Friday night.

Dr. Mohamed’s medical license remains active, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. His Michigan medical license was issued in 2004 and expires in January, 2015. The agency reported on its website that Dr. Mohamed has no formal complaints filed against him nor has he faced disciplinary action. Officials said, however, that could change as the legal case moves forward.

Dr. Mohamed’s attorney, Barry A. Resnick of Farmington Hills, was unavailable for comment Friday. However, last month he said his client denies the allegations and they will fight the charges in court to clear his name.

Source: Ray Kisonas, “14 More Charges Filed Against Psychiatrist, Monroe News, June 23, 2012.

Florida counselor William E. Hayes relinquishes license after exposure of child sex crime conviction

On October 26, 2012, the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapists and Mental Health Counseling accepted the voluntary relinquishment of mental health counselor William E. Hayes’ license to practice.

According to the Florida Department of Health’s (DoH) Investigative Report, the Board had been unaware that Hayes had been convicted of a serious crime until it was brought to their attention by the Clearwater, Florida chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, who had discovered that on August 28, 2002, Hayes was convicted in Miami-Dade County of two counts of Lewd and Lascivious Conduct on a Child under 16 and on November 3, 2000, was convicted of indecent exposure.

Such convictions are considered by the DoH to be sexual misconduct.

Source: Final Order, Dept. of Health vs. William E. Hayes, Case No. 2011-02525, License No. MH 391, the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapists and Mental Health Counseling.

State denies Jennifer Hill’s application for counselor license over sex with client

On January 10, 2012, the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners denied Jennifer Hill’s application for licensure as an associate counselor.

The Board’s report states that Hill, while an applicant for licensure, provided counseling to a client, to whom she subsequently providing a ride home in her car. Hill acknowledged that she engaged in intimate sexual relations with the client on three occasions in January and February 2011.

Hill continued to meet and counsel the client but terminated their personal relationship and stopped returning his calls. In July 2011, Hill disclosed to her employer that she’d engaged in a sexual relationship with the client, but only after she’d been alerted by another client of a rumor circulating about the relationship.

Source: Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Adverse Action Tracking Form, 2012.

Psychiatric nurse William Prior loses license for sex with patient

William Prior “groomed” Patient A with cuddles then had sex with her when he should have been at work, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard.

Mr Prior, a mental health nurse for 20 years, faced two misconduct charges. Both were found proved on Thursday.

He did not attend the hearing and was not represented, the NMC said.

Mr Prior worked for the Milton Keynes Community Health Services as an out-of-hours mental health practitioner.
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The consequences of Mr Prior’s actions led to a relapse in her mental state, damaged her self esteem and has left her not trusting healthcare professionals”

Nursing and Midwifery Council

The four-day hearing in London was told the woman had bipolar affective disorder, a history of child abuse and suicidal thoughts.

Mr Prior visited her at home and told her to keep it a secret as he would get in trouble, the NMC was told.

He phoned her on numerous occasions and sent her four text messages, some of which said “can’t wait to see you” and “miss you”.

Patient A gave evidence via a video link and said that on the second and final time they had consensual sex, Mr Prior did not visit for long because he received phone calls from a patient and a colleague.

The NMC was told that when challenged by his employers, he had denied having sex with the woman and said he had never been unfaithful.
‘Took advantage’

The panel said it found it “unbelievable” Mr Prior did not report he had found the woman “unkempt” in nightwear and smelling strongly of alcohol when he visited her to “put a close to things”.

The panel concluded: “Patient A told the panel that the consequences of Mr Prior’s actions led to a relapse in her mental state, damaged her self esteem and has left her not trusting healthcare professionals, which has adversely affected her future mental health.

“Mr Prior abused Patient A’s trust and took advantage of her in her own home.

“He did not collaborate with the other healthcare professionals who were responsible for her care, he did not assess the risk she was in and failed to provide a high standard of care.”

The NMC imposed a striking-off order.

Source: “Milton Keynes patient sex mental health nurse struck off,” BBC News, 1 June 2012.

French psychotherapist Benoit Yang Tin convicted of implanting false memories of sex abuse

A FRENCH psychotherapist has been convicted of implanting memories of abuse in two of his patients.

A French court yesterday convicted Parisian psychotherapist Benoit Yang Ting with abuse and ordered him to pay thousands of euros in fines and damages.

In a case reminiscent of the mind-bending Hollywood film “Inception”, prosecutors had denounced Benoit Yang Ting, 76, as a “charlatan” and accused him of implanting false memories in the patients over years of therapy.

The court gave Yang Ting a one-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a 50,000-euro ($63,000) fine and 150,000 euros in total damages to the two patients.

The two victims, lawyer Sophie Poirot and entrepreneur Bernard Touchebeuf, had paid out 238,000 euros and 750,000 euros respectively over the years to Yang Ting, who charged them 320 euros per hour.

They said they attended gruelling sessions with the therapist, who would make them strip naked and then claim to awaken suppressed memories.

Ms Poirot said she endured false memories of sexual abuse while Mr Touchebeuf said he had been made to falsely recall his mother stabbing him with a knitting needle while he was still in her womb.

Yang Ting did not attend the court proceedings for health reasons.

Source: “Shrink implanted false memories,” Agency France-Presse, June 13, 2012.

A sharp husband fought back after marriage counselor Jason Butler “wife-jacked” him

On November 3, 2011, the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice revoked the license of clinical social worker Jason E. Butler–the end result of a complaint that the Board received in November 2010 alleging that Butler had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a married female client.

According to the Board’s documents, Butler began treating the woman’s husband, who we’ll call “Mr X,”  in the fall of 2009 and shortly thereafter the man and his wife attended marriage counseling with Butler.

After providing marriage counseling for several months, Butler began individual counseling with the wife, “Mrs. X.” During these sessions, Butler made various inappropriate comments to Mrs. X. He also suggested that she leave Mr. X.

Butler also engaged in excessive phone contact with Mrs. X, despite being under clinical supervision as a result of a 2009 disciplinary action, which was taken against him by the Board in part due to excessive phone contact with a 17-year-old female client.

During sessions with Mrs. X, Butler discussed his personal problems, including his dissatisfaction with clinical social work. He asked Mrs. X about her line of work, including salary information. Butler had her assist him in applying for a job with her employer. He asked her to meet him for coffee so they could discuss his application and they met at a Starbucks while he was still under Board-ordered practice supervision.

Butler continued to counsel Mrs. X evan after she expressed her concern that she had developed romantic feelings for him. In such a case, the therapist is supposed to properly handle the situation or assist the client to find another therapist.

Mrs. X reported to the Board that in July 2010, Butler and she met for a drink and that their relationship became intimate at that time and that the two engaged in intimate contact on several occasions.

In late October 2010, using a GPS tracking system, Mr. X discovered that his wife had spent the night at Butler’s home. He followed them the next morning as they drove to breakfast. Butler then led the husband on a high-speed chase on the interstate which ended when Mr. X crashed his vehicle. Mr. X subsequently filed a complaint with the licensing board.

After receiving notice of the complaint agianst him, Butler altered Mrs. X treatment record and had her fill out and back date the informed consent and intake forms which he had neglected to give her prior to beginning treatment with him, as required by state regulations.  He also collaborated with Mrs. X to review his phone records in an attempt to come up with explanations for all the late night phone calls between them.

Though Butler denied all the allegations against him, he nonetheless acknowledged that if a hearing had been held in the matter and the Board had been able to substantiate the charges, it would have been grounds for disciplinary action.

Source: Settlement Agreement in the Matter of Jason Butler, LICSW, License No. 1241, State of New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice.