As seen via the San Mateo County Times. More charges are waiting in the wings as more people have come forward. The accused psychiatrist has made bail after it was reduced to a mere $250,000, to the disappointment of police.
Dr. William Ayres, the prominent San Mateo psychiatrist arrested Thursday and charged with 14 counts of lewd and lascivious acts with three children younger than 14, posted bail early Monday afternoon, county officials and police reported.
Ayres, 75, was released from the Maguire Correctional Facility about 2 p.m. on $250,000 bail.
The bail was posted by Ayres' wife, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
On Friday, within 24 hours of Ayres' arrest, a San Mateo County Superior Court judge slashed Ayres' initial bail of $1.5 million to $250,000 — an 80 percent reduction which Wagstaffe called "very disappointing."
Prosecutor Melissa McKowan had advised the judge against reducing Ayres' bail on the basis that the child psychiatrist was a potential flight risk, adding that he recently had sold his home.
Ayres, a former president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, practiced in San Mateo County for decades, seeing thousands of patients referred to him through local school districts and the county's juvenile court system. He also maintained a private practice.
Police first began investigating Ayres in 2002 after being told by a man who had been a patient of Ayres in the 1970s that the doctor had molested him on multiple occasions. But the case had to be dropped after a Supreme Court ruling effectively changed the statute of limitations on such cases.
Childhood molestation charges can only be brought by victims who are younger than 29 or whose alleged abuse occurred after Jan. 1, 1988.
The San Mateo Police Department reopened the case in March 2006. A search warrant was executed for Ayres' records, and a list was compiled of more than 800 patients.
To date, the investigation has unearthed 21 people allegedly molested by Ayres. Three witnesses — men in their late 20s and early 30s who were aged 9, 11 and 12 at the time of their alleged molestation — fall within the legal stature of limitations.
The national media attention brought by Ayres' arrest has prompted more people to come forward with information, and police continue conducting interviews, Wagstaffe said.
Although prosecutors have not revealed much about the case in development against Ayres, Wagstaffe revealed Monday that one man allegedly molested by Ayres told police that the child psychiatrist threatened him for expressing discomfort during a session.
"It was then that the doctor threw out the comment to him, 'Nobody will believe you, anyway. You're a troubled youth — hey, nobody's going to believe you over me,'" said Wagstaffe.
Ayres is expected to enter a plea at his arraignment Wednesday — during which the district attorney will charge Ayres with additional counts, said McKowan. The district attorney also will use the arraignment as an opportunity to request an increase in the psychiatrist's bail.
The case against Ayres is "incredibly grave," said McKowan.
"There are numerous people who were victimized by somebody in an extreme situation of trust," she said Friday, following Ayres' initial court appearance. "This is as egregious a child-molest case as you can find."
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