Doctor Charged With Sexually Assaulting Bedridden Patient
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A doctor accused of sexually assaulting a bedridden 61-year-old Des Plaines woman was ordered held on $250,000 bond, after prosecutors detailed in court abuse the woman allegedly suffered over the course of three years during home visits the doctor made to her residence, prosecutors said.
During a Sunday hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Cook County Judge James Brown ordered Dr. Charles S. Dehaan, 59, to surrender his passport.
While Dehaan appeared in court on sexual assault charges involving a Des Plaines patient, prosecutors said the Belvidere doctor is thought to have sexually assaulted up to 11 other patients, Assistant State's Attorney Dan Calandriello said.
Dehaan's medical license was suspended in January, according to state records.
Beginning in 2009, and continuing until 2012, Dehaan paid home visits to the Des Plaines woman's home, prosecutors said in court.
After arriving at her residence, Dehaan would close the woman's room door and proceed to fondle her while forcing her to touch his genitals, prosecutors said in court.
When the woman cried during his assaults and pleaded for him to stop, Dehaan told her that no one would believe her because he was a reputed doctor and she had psychiatric "issues," prosecutors said.
Several witnesses later reported to authorities that the woman appeared emotionally distraught after Dehaan's visits, which were supposed to be sessions in which he treated her for an anxiety disorder, prosecutors said in court.
Prosecutors also said Dehaan is still licensed to practice in other states. But his Illinois medical license was suspended on January 16, "for sexually inappropriate conduct with multiple patients of his practice as well as authorizing Controlled Substances for individual without establishing physician-patient relationship," according to state licensing records, which indicate he started practicing medicine in the state in 1982.
Dehaan, who is married and has three children, is also under federal indictment for Medicare fraud, prosecutors said.
A federal affidavit details numerous sexual assaults Dehaan, whose practice is based in Rockford, allegedly forced his patients to endure.
In some instances Dehaan allegedly coerced elderly female patients to perform sex acts on him, according to court records. One of the patients, whose deceased husband was also a former patient of Dehaan's, told federal investigators that Dehaan would tell her that she "needed a man in her life."
The woman, who lived at an assisted living facility in the Rockford area, told investigators that she was afraid Dehaan would deny her medical coverage if she did not comply, according to the court filing.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
