A follow up to an earlier report, as seen here
The molestation investigation surrounding prominent child psychiatrist William Ayres has intensified, as the San Mateo Police Department combs through the files of 700 people who may have sought treatment from Ayres in San Mateo County.
A former president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ayres, 74, for decades treated county residents referred to him through local school districts and the county's juvenile justice system. He also ran a private practice.
Investigators are tight-lipped about the nature of their investigation, but several past patients and family members have come forward to file police reports charging that Ayres molested them while they sought counseling from him.
However, most of those cases are too old for prosecution under the statute of limitations.
More recent cases could be found in materials taken from Ayres' home and office during a search of his property in March. At that time, police seized and turned over material to a court-appointed "special master" who compiled a list of more than 700 possible patients, all meeting the statute of limitations, according to San Mateo Police Capt. Mike Callagy.
Investigators will begin calling hundreds of people treated by Ayres in what Callagy called a "tremendous undertaking."
"Our first duty is really to go through these names and contact the individuals and see what they have to say," Callagy said. "We're fact-finders. We're here to seek the truth, whatever that may be."
The investigation has been slow because of the number of agencies involved, Callagy said. The San Mateo District Attorney's Office and the county Department of Child and Family Services also have been working with the Police Department.
Last summer, Ayres settled a lawsuit with a man who claimed the psychiatrist molested him in 1977, when he was 13, according to court documents. Details of that lawsuit have not been released.
Ayres is currently involved in a lawsuit with his former medical group, Peninsula Psychiatric Associates, claiming it is responsible for losing important documents that would have allowed him to bill his settlement with his former patient to his insurance carrier.
Hugh W. Ridlehuber, a former psy-chiatrist with Peninsula Psychiatric Associates, said he never suspected any wrongdoing on Ayres' part.
"I was shocked when I heard about (the allegations)," Ridlehuber said. "As far as I knew, Ayres had a good reputation in the community."
San Mateo resident Barbara Ross said Ayres was recommended to her and her husband in 1972 after their son, Douglas, refused to attend his junior high school classes. Douglas, 12 at the time, told his parents that Ayres molested him during one of their sessions, but Ross said she and her husband didn't believe him.
Douglas died in a 1995 car wreck, years before the lawsuit against Ayres came to light.
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