Former Boston Children's Hospital doctor accused of sexually abusing patients

As Reported in the Boston Globe. While not a psychiatrist, since this involves allegations of child abuse, we might be able to make an exception in our reporting this time

A renowned pediatrician and best-selling author who served for 14 years as chief of ambulatory pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston was accused of sexually abusing at least seven children in his care in a lawsuit filed today in Suffolk Superior Court.

The lawsuit, filed by one unnamed plaintiff, alleges that Dr. Melvin D. Levine "sexually assaulted, battered, and abused" him between 1980 and 1985.

"Levine, during his treatment sessions, under the guise of performing repeated but unnecessary physical examinations, sexually assaulted John No. 5, including numerous acts of genital fondling, masturbation, and other attempted and threatened acts of assault," the lawsuit alleges.

In a statement, Levine’s Boston lawyer Edward Mahoney said the doctor is innocent.

"Dr. Mel Levine has provided pediatric care to more than 15,000 children over 40 years and categorically denies that he has ever been abusive in any way toward any patient," Mahoney said. "He adamantly denies these claims. Dr. Levine is distressed about the distorted or misinterpreted memories from decades past, and questions the motivations. He prefers not to participate further in counsel’s efforts to obtain free advertising for his legal practice."

In a separate statement, officials at Children’s Hospital said Levine worked there between 1971 and 1985, specializing in children with developmental and educational issues.

"This work led to Dr. Levine developing a national reputation as an expert in these fields," according to the statement.

Hospital officials said they "never had any complaint from any patient or parent of any patient suggesting inappropriate conduct of any nature by Dr. Levine."

They added: "Children’s Hospital’s most important goal is to protect children’s health and promote their well being. Our staff is trained and experienced in detecting abuse and mistreatment of children. Such behavior, if identified, is treated with the utmost seriousness and addressed immediately."

Levine, who trained as a resident at the hospital starting in 1965, went on to practice at the University of North Carolina Medical Center.

As noted here:

Dr. Mel Levine is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr. Levine is also the co-founder of All Kinds of Minds, a non-profit institute for the study of differences in learning, with financier Charles R. Schwab.

Over the past thirty years, Dr. Levine has pioneered programs for the evaluation of children and young adults with learning, development, and/or behavioral problems. In 1995, Dr. Levine received the C. Anderson Aldrich Award for outstanding contribution to the field of child development. In 2005, he was named the most admired person in education by Scholastic Press.

Dr. Levine graduated summa cum laude from Brown University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford in England. He later graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed his pediatric training at The Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Levine served for fourteen years as Chief of the Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics at The Children's Hospital and was an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Harvard Medical School before moving to North Carolina. Dr. Levine served as Director of the University of North Carolina’s Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning for 21 years.

We can only hope that he was not infected with the "psychiatric disease"