Another man sues psychiatrist over sexual molestation

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A second 19-year-old man is suing Cincinnati child psychiatrist Dr. Leo D'Souza, accusing the doctor of sexually molesting him.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court by a man who says D'Souza sexually molested him during an office visit earlier this month.

Another 19-year-old man filed a similar lawsuit Dec. 11 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, alleging that D'Souza sexually molested him during a doctor's visit when he was a minor. That case is pending.

D'Souza and his employer, Cincinnati Counseling Service, are named in the suit that seeks damages in excess of $25,000.

The lawsuits are not the first allegation of abuse against the doctor.

A third 19-year-old man who says he was sexually molested by D'Souza in 2003 settled out of court with him for $7,500 in 2005, according to Hamilton County Probate Court records.

"Since the filing of the initial complaint and the coverage it received in the media, we have received a number of calls from other potential victims," said attorney Mike Allen, who represents both men, but did not represent the man who settled out of court. "We are in the process of interviewing them and referring them to the appropriate law-enforcement agencies.

"The number of people who have come forward leads one to be concerned about how extensive the abuse may be."

D'Souza, who was working Thursday in the center's Colerain Township office, did not return a call for comment. No attorney is listed in court records.

Cincinnati Counseling Service owner Robert Ford was not in Thursday. A message left for him was not returned.

D'Souza has not been criminally charged. Complaints about doctors to the Ohio Medical Board are not public until substantiated. The parents of the 19-year-old man who filed the Dec. 11 lawsuit have filed a complaint with the medical board about D'Souza, Allen said.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday, the man says D'Souza fondled him during an office visit this month. After listening to the man's heart with a stethoscope and pushing on his abdomen, D'Souza told the man to drop his pants and underwear and then fondled him under the guise of an exam, according to the lawsuit.

The suit makes a claim of sexual battery against D'Souza and a claim of negligence against Cincinnati Counseling Service Inc., the doctor's employer.

In the Dec. 11 lawsuit, the man said the abuse started in 1999 or 2000 and ended in December 2005.

D'Souza was treating the man at the counseling center's Westwood office for bipolar disorder, depression and other related conditions.

In the lawsuit, the man said he was 12 or 13 when D'Souza began to include a "physical examination" during office visits. During those exams, which occurred at least six times, D'Souza fondled the man, the lawsuit says.

The suit makes a claim for child abuse and medical malpractice against D'Souza. The man is also suing Cincinnati Counseling Service for negligence.

The abuse in the 2003 case is alleged in a letter filed in Hamilton County Probate Court to D'Souza from the victim's attorney dated Jan. 4, 2005.

D'Souza is accused of sexually molesting a 16-year-old boy during an initial consultation for treatment of a bipolar disorder.

D'Souza coerced the teenager to see him alone, despite initial requests that his mother be present, according to the letter. Once alone, D'Souza ordered the boy to undress and then fondled the boy's genitals, according to the letter.

A complaint was made to the Ohio Medical Board, according to the letter.

The letter offered to drop the claim in exchange for $15,000. It gave D'Souza 10 days to respond, or a lawsuit would be filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

The case was settled for $7,500 on Oct. 19, 2005, according to probate court records.