Former Psychiatrist Sentenced for Child Sex Crimes

A Report from WNEP

Michael Kessler was sentenced to state prison Friday for trying to lure a 13-year-old boy to meet him for sex back in 2013.

“Michael, why did you tell the court you're sorry? Are you sorry you got caught? Or are you sorry you did it?" Newswatch 16 asked Kessler. He had no response.

Former psychiatrist Michael Kessler of Cresco is headed to a state prison after his sentencing in Monroe County Court. Kessler admits trying to lure a 13-year-old by to meet him and engage in sexual activity, sending him child porn and more. The boy’s mother says she’s glad Kessler will be behind bars.

"It caused a lot of anxiety not knowing and knowing that he knew where I lived and was my friend and he targeted my son,” said the boy’s mother Janet VanHorn.

That mother says she monitors her children’s phones and Facebook accounts. Two years ago she caught Kessler posing online as a 14-year old boy and turned the case over to Monroe County Detectives.

"She paid attention. She caught it early. She was on top of things and she took the right steps,” said Detective Brian Webbe of the Monroe County Detective Office.

Kessler worked at Pocono Psychiatric Associates near Marshalls Creek before his license was revoked in 2012. Prosecutors say Kessler was arrested four other times for sexual incidents in Massachusetts and New Jersey without facing jail time.

"It makes you angry because all these years he thought he was above the law. It made me want to fight even harder to make sure he faced punishment,” said VanHorn.

Now Kessler faces a year and a half to five years behind bars. And this mother of two has a message for other parents after a long tough two years waiting for justice.

“Parents need to be aware that they need to keep up on your social media you need to check your kids' phones and their Facebook. You need to be on top of it all because if you're not, Lord knows what could have happened,” said VanHorn.

ABC15 Investigation: AZ mental hospital fails to investigate, protect patients from sex abuse

ABC15 TV has been investigating the Arizona State Hospital, and here is the tip of a very big iceberg. There is much more in the original and related reports. What we share below is merely a highlight.

The Arizona State Hospital has failed to protect vulnerable patients from sex abuse and dangerous sexual activity; and in several cases, officials have failed to investigate serious allegations, according to a two-year ABC15 investigation.

[...]

The ABC15 Investigators reviewed thousands of pages of hospital, police and court records to compile a list of sex crime allegations at the Arizona State Hospital. By cross-referencing the records, ABC15 was also able to identify repeat offenders and victims.

From 2012 through 2014, we found: 

• There were 63 allegations of sex crimes, including rape, sex abuse and molestation.
• ASH investigated 24 of those allegations.
• ABC15 could only confirm 10 allegations resulted in reports with Arizona Adult Protective Services (APS) or law enforcement.

State law states that APS or a peace officer be notified immediately if there’s a “reasonable basis to believe that abuse or neglect of the adult has occurred.”

But several hospital sources have told ABC15 incidents go unreported, and they fear retaliation if they do report incidents outside of ASH.

“Staff has been basically threatened that if they do contact APS that repercussions will happen,” said one hospital source. “It goes unreported because staff is in fear of their jobs.”

Unreported allegations and crimes by healthcare officials can be a serious matter.

Arizona State Hospital has a long history of problems, it is a target rich environment for investigators Here are some of the Videos related to this report

The Psychiatric & Mental Health Rape Reporter says that up to 25% of psychiatrists & psychologists use their patients for sex.

Psychiatrist Dr. William Lewek given max sentence for burying body in his own back yard

Taken from a Report From the Democrat and Chronicle. there is more informtion and a video at this link.

Monroe County Court Judge Christopher S. Ciaccio cited Arendt on Friday as he sentenced a Rochester psychiatrist to up to four years in prison for burying a body in a Park Avenue neighborhood backyard.

While William Lewek has numerous substance abuse and physical and mental health issues, Ciaccio said, none of those are adequate explanation for why he kept Matthew Straton's body hidden for nearly three months, even as police and increasingly frantic family and friends looked for him.

Instead, Lewek "simply put his needs and fears above others'," Ciaccio said as he gave Lewek the maximum sentence on the felony charge of tampering with physical evidence.

That physical evidence was the body of 32-year-old Straton, who died in October 2013 at Lewek's Rowley Street house and who Lewek then dragged outside and buried. The county Medical Examiner's Office was never able to ascertain what killed Straton, though during sentencing Friday there were numerous references to it very likely being of a drug overdose.

"Matt had been thrown out like a bag of garbage," Straton's mother, Kym, told the court prior to sentencing, as she described the family's frantic efforts to try to find him for more than two months. "I have nightmares of what Matt looked like when he finally was discovered."

{...]

We also have this video from the initial arrest

Dr Peter Gøtzsche exposes big pharma as organized crime (Youtube Video)

Florida Psychiatrist Mark Agresti sued over treatment of West Palm Beach woman who killed daughter and herself

Here is the Local TV WPBF News Reports



with this related report

Bradley Brooks was so concerned about his 10-year-old-daughter Alexandra, on Sept. 12, 2013, he asked the police to check the home she shared with her mother Pamela Brooks. Police went to the home located at 139 Gregory Place and found Alexandra and Pamela inside, both stabbed to death. Pamela Brooks was found with 130 self-inflicted stab wounds. Her daughter was found with 30 stab wounds. Police ruled the case a murder-suicide.

The girl's father is now suing a psychiatrist and a substance abuse counselor who were treating Pamela Brooks.

According to the lawsuit, Pamela Brooks had a lifetime of alcohol abuse. Beginning in 1999 her alcohol abuse began causing problems in her life. The lawsuit also states, Bradley Brooks filed an emergency request for custody of their daughter back in May of 2013, just weeks after her mother was arrested for DUI. The lawsuit states, Pamela Brooks was ordered to a comprehensive psychological evaluation and was seen several times by the doctor. Her next scheduled appointment was for Sept. 13, 2013. She and her daughter were found dead inside their home Sept. 12, 2013.

According to the lawsuit filed last week, Brooks doctor is accused of "Failing to clearly communicate that Pamela Brooks was at risk of inflicting harm to herself or to others," and "Failing to refer Pamela Brooks to a physician trained in the management of patients suffering from severe depression," the suit states.

Both the doctor and counselor are accused of negligence.

And as reported in the Palm Beach Post

A psychiatrist and a substance abuse counselor who were treating a West Palm Beach woman who killed herself and her 10-year-old daughter in September 2013 have been sued in connection with the deaths that stunned the community. In the lawsuit filed last week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, family members of Pamela and Alexandra Brooks blame Dr. Mark Agresti and counselor David Dashev for the murder-suicide.

The two “knew or should have known that Pamela Brooks was at risk of inflicting harm to herself, or to others,” according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Glenn Crickenberger, who works for the Stuart law firm of famed lawyer Willie Gary. “However, (they) failed to refer Pamela Brooks to a physician trained in the management of patients suffering from severe depression.”

Brooks, 48, was found dead in the living room of her Gregory Place home with 130 self-inflicted stab wounds. The body of her daughter was found in the kitchen with 30 stab wounds, the suit says. The deaths so shocked the community that the city’s then police chief took the unusual step of calling a press conference to announce they had been ruled a murder-suicide. The grisly scene was discovered by Brooks’ ex-husband, Bradley, who broke into the home because he was concerned about his daughter, a King’s Academy student.

Dashev, former chief operations officer of the Mental Health Pavilion at what is now West Palm Hospital, declined comment on the suit. Agresti couldn’t be reached.

Pamela Brooks had been ordered to seek treatment from Agresti and Dashev by Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull in May 2013 after Bradley Brooks filed an emergency request for custody of the couple’s daughter. The request came weeks after Pamela Brooks was arrested for driving under the influence.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Bradley Brooks and his ex-wife’s parents, Martin and Evelyn Hewson, details Pamela Brooks long struggle with alcohol abuse. It also indicates she initially responded to treatment by Agresti and Dashev. Treated daily with Antabuse, a drug designed to reduce cravings for alcohol, medical records in June and July 2013 showed she was “compliant and that her spirits were good,” the lawsuit says.

In August, the tenor of the notes changed. They indicate she had resumed drinking. Questions were raised about whether she needed residential care. “There was a discussion with Ms. Brooks regarding depression and the presence of suicidal ideation,” the suit says.

From Aug. 16 to Sept. 6, 2013, she was seen about 10 times by Agresti and Dashev. “During several of these visits Pamela described her overall condition as being characterized by anxiety and tension,” the suit states. “She described herself as feeling overwhelmed, angry and upset stemming from her DUI and all the changes in her life that the DUI has caused.” A day before her next appointment, she killed herself and her daughter.

The suit accuses Agresti and Dashev of negligence. It seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

The Myth of the Chemical Cure: The Politics of Psychiatric Drug Treatment

Video presentation by UNE Center for Global Humanities and its founding director, Anouar Majid, host Joanna Moncrieff on "The Myth of the Chemical Cure: The Politics of Psychiatric Drug Treatment." Just under 1.5 hours

Excited Man Only Two Therapy Sessions Away From Resolving Issues [Satire]

A classic bit of Satire from the Onion on the ability (or inability) of psychiatrists to actually cure someone of anything

After over seven years of weekly meetings with his psychiatrist, 35-year-old Chris Vaughan told reporters Friday he is thrilled to be just two 45-minute sessions away from completely resolving all of his problems.

"Pharmaceutical money: Ask your doctor if his taking it is right for you."

Courtesy of Alternet

VIDEO: John Oliver Eviscerates the Stunningly Corrupt Practices of Big Pharma

John Oliver dug deep into the corrupt practices of the pharmaceutical industry in a 17-minute rant Sunday that will be one for the ages.

It's a must-watch video tha lays bare just how deeply invested Big Pharma is in getting doctors to prescribe their drugs to millions of people, no matter what. In fact, Oliver explains, Big Pharma spends much more on marketing to doctors than it does on research, or to marketing to us in television advertising. Why? Because we tend to trust our doctors. And if they say take this pill, we will.

Amidst the really alarming facts in Oliver's careful dissection of the issue are some pretty hilarious lines. At one point the HBO comedian compares drug compaines to high school boyfriends: "They're much more interested in getting inside you than in being effective once they are there."

There have been tiny glimmers of reform in Big Pharma's dishonest practices: Pharmaceutical reps are not allowed to take doctors out for lavish meals all the time, now. And the Affordable Care Act has helped set up a website which enables you to look up whose money your doctor is taking.

Watch:

Judge ponders psychiatrist's admission that he helped bury the body.

From a Report from New York's Democrat and Chronicle

Much more information and video at the link

Monroe County Court Judge Christopher Ciaccio has postponed a decision on the admissibility of statements Dr. William Lewek gave to Rochester police.

The psychiatrist is awaiting trial on accusations that he buried the body of Matthew Straton, 32, in the backyard of Lewek's home on Rowley Street in October 2013. Lewek, a certified addiction counselor, allegedly told Rochester police that Straton, 32, died in the home.

At issue in court Wednesday was the admissibility of statements Lewek, 63, gave to police. Police investigator Nicholas Mazzola previously testified that Lewek led police into his backyard on Jan. 15, 2014, pointed out a mound of debris and dirt and said that beneath that mound was the dead body of Straton.

Anchorage psychiatrist changes his plea to guilty in Medicaid fraud case

As Reported on KTUU



(I have edited their report for purposes of clean up errors, typos, etc)

Anchorage psychiatrist Dr. Shubu Ghosh has changed his plea in a case of fraudulently billing Medicaid and tampering with evidence. Dr. Shubu Ghosh has plead guilty to billing Medicaid more than $1 million for services he never performed. He said he was guilty for falsifying records in an attempt to cover up the improper billing. Ghosh founded Gosh Psychiatric Services and was arrested in April of this year. His sentencing is set for April of next year, and he could spend one to three and a half years in jail and pay a fine of up to $50 thousand.

Psychiatric Drugs Are More Dangerous than You Ever Imagined

A New Video By Doctor Peter Breggin,part of a series

Unforgotten: Twenty-Five Years After Willowbrook

"Unforgotten" is a critically acclaimed, award-winning documentary that examines the impact of the horrors of Willowbrook on the survivors and their families, 25 years after Geraldo Rivera's historic television exposé.

It was a nightmare that shocked not only New York, but all of America. The public outcry about the Willowbrook State School for people with developmental disabilities resulted from Geraldo Rivera's exposé on WABC after he had entered Willowbrook with a film crew in 1972, using a stolen key.

Geraldo Rivera discusses what he found in Willibrook



Geraldo Rivera speaks on what it was like to make the investigative report (Parts 1 and 2 in particular)

Part One



Part Two



Part Three

East Mississippi Correctional Facility was supposed to house the state's psychiatrically disabled prisoners, providing intensive treatment services. [...] Instead, MTC ran it as a for-profit hellhole.

East Mississippi Correctional Facility is a cesspool. Prisoners are underfed and routinely held in cells that are infested with rats and have no working toilets or lights. Although designated as a facility to care for prisoners with special needs and serious psychiatric disabilities, ECMF denies prisoners even the most rudimentary mental health care services. Many prisoners have attempted to commit suicide; some have succeeded. One prisoner is now legally blind after EMCF failed to provide his glaucoma medications and take him to a specialist, and another had part of his finger amputated after he was stabbed and developed gangrene.​

This video is the story of two people forever damaged by their time at East Mississippi Correctional Facility. Prison sentences mean time behind bars, not abuse. The Mississippi Department of Corrections bears ultimate responsibility for these atrocities happening on their watch. Share this video to help end the abuse.



See this extensive report at News.MIC (with many links)

"If You Need That Proof America's Prison System Is Broken, Just Look to Mississippi"

More Information via Courthouse News

Psychiatrist and Fox News Channel analyst Keith Ablow freely mixes psychiatric assessments with political criticism, a unique twist in cable news commentary that some medical colleagues find unethical.

Commentary by David Bauder as seen on the Website for Channel 10 WISTV in Columbia, South Carolina.

Here are some snippets from the column, with my own brief comment. I recommend that you read it in full at the link above

[...]

He's been a Fox contributor since 2007 after hosting a failed syndicated talk show. Identified as a member of the Fox News Medical A-Team, he hosts a regular segment about behavior titled "Normal or Nuts?" on the "Fox & Friends" morning show. There were published reports this fall that the network had extended his contract.

Rival news networks CNN and MSNBC say they don't have a psychiatrist-commentator under contract. CNN said the closest thing it has to something similar is when profilers come on the air to discuss the mental characteristics of people who commit dramatic crimes, for example. The network said medical experts don't get into politics, but others can have different interpretations. The MRC's Graham said opinion often drifts in when television medical correspondents comment on aspects of Obama's health care plan.

Ablow clearly enjoys being provocative, and his commentaries don't stick to his areas of medical expertise. Within the past two weeks he called for an "American jihad," saying the country should urge all nations to adopt a government form based on the U.S. Constitution. His comment this summer that Michelle Obama "needs to drop a few" pounds was widely noticed.

[...]

Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, said Ablow seems more interested in entertaining than in reflecting well on his profession. Lieberman is past president of the American Psychiatric Association, which discourages members from speculating on psychiatric characteristics of non-patients.

"It is shameful and unfortunate that he is given a platform by Fox News or any other media organization," Lieberman said. "Basically he is a narcissistic self-promoter of limited and dubious expertise."

Ablow isn't an APA member, having resigned in 2011 in a dispute over transgenderism.

It's not unusual for there to be an uncomfortable relationship between the medical community and doctors who get into television. Talk show hosts Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz have their critics. Dr. Drew Pinsky took heat for exposing rehab patients to the pressure of a televised recovery.

While doctors are entitled to political opinions like anyone else, the way Ablow tries to connect his views to medical analysis "is really just irresponsible and it's embarrassing for physicians in general," said Ford Vox, a staff physiatrist at the Shepherd Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center in Atlanta.

Ablow has occasionally taken heat from Fox colleagues about his commentaries. Greg Gutfeld of "The Five" said that "we should probably avoid blaming people for tragedies," in response to Ablow's criticism of Obama on Ebola. And the four women co-hosts of "Outnumbered" clearly didn't appreciate the attack on the first lady's weight, made in context of her efforts to promote healthy eating.

Keith Ablow is a doctor without ethics, and is likely accusing President Obama of the the very things that Mr. Ablow is suffering from himself. Things like "severed himself from all core emotions." and so much more. Mr Bauder has done a great service in pointing out the professional hypocrisy and lack of ethics of Mr. Ablow. Too bad that Fox news has decided to profit from his lack of ethics instead of upholding professional standards.

We also note several followup columns on Mr. Ablow such as these

The strange case of Dr. Keith Ablow [Politico]

White House Foolishly Ignores Insights Of Fox ‘Dr.’ Keith Ablow, World’s Worst Psychiatrist [Wonkette]

Fox’s Keith Ablow Doubles Down on Psychoanalyzing Obama as a ‘Narcissist’ [Mediate]

Which is hilarious since Mr. Ablow is ever so likely to be a Narcissist himself.

Of course, he had to something to defend himself, not that it did him any good

Fox’s Keith Ablow fires back after fellow psychiatrists denounce him as a hack

Media Matters posted a mashup of some of Ablow’s past commentaries on Friday, which can be seen below.



On the basis that he is guilty of what he is accusing the President of, Keith Ablow is Toxic, and it is dangerous for your mental health to believe Keith Ablow.

While there may be plenty of legitimate reasons to dislike and and disagree with President Obama, those of discredited psych Keith Ablow are dangerous to American Politics.

Local Doctors Accused of Abusing Drugs, Alcohol and Over-Prescribing in Some Cases Killing Patients. California Prop 46 calls for Drug Testing for Doctors

As seen in this report

Local Doctors Accused of Abusing Drugs, Alcohol and Over-Prescribing in Some Cases Killing Patients

Of particular intere is California's propostion 46

Proposition 46 calls for random drug and alcohol testing of California doctors who work at hospitals or have hospital admitting privileges. It would also require doctors to submit to substance abuse testing if a patient under their care suffers medical harm.

Click here to see the complete voters guide on Proposition 46 from California’s Secretary of State Office.

Of course doctors are opposed to this.

there is a video report as well


What do you think?

Lawsuit by former Kamehameha students alleges decades of sex abuse at hands of school psychiatrist

As reported by KHON in Hawaii

Former Kamehameha Schools students have stepped forward saying they were sexually abused while they attended the school. Their claims were outlined in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in State Circuit Court by their attorney, Michael Green.

Green says for now, he is representing eight men who all say they were sexually abused and molested at the hands of Dr. Robert McCormick Browne, a psychiatrist who Green says worked for Kamehameha Schools and conducted so-called therapy sessions on the students, falling within a 21-year period from 1958-1981. Green says, at the time, Browne was the Chief of Psychiatry at St. Francis Medical Center and the boys were all younger than 16 years old.

“Many of them had minor problems at Kamehameha Schools when they were young, from 7th grade and 8th grade, and they were referred to Dr. Browne,” said Green. “If they did not see Dr. Browne, the threat was (they would) get expelled.”

Green says Dr. Browne died in 1991. According to the lawsuit, the so-called therapy sessions took place at the doctor’s home in Manoa along with a vacation home in Kamuela during weekend sleepovers. Green says the doctor was a dorm adviser and was given access to students at their dorm rooms. Green says the victims also allege the sessions took place at the doctor’s office at St. Francis.

The lawsuit comes just as the statute of limitations on the filing of child sex and molestation cases is set to expire next month, a deadline that was set two years ago by the state legislature. But there is a move to grant yet another extension for those who are willing to come forward and file suit. KHON2 obtained a copy of Senate Bill 2687, a measure that would extend the statute of limitations even further. If this measure becomes law, complainants who allege child sexual abuse will get to file civil suits up until they turn the age of 55.

State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro introduced the bill and also won approval for the two-year extension that expires next month. As for the age of 55, Sen Shimabukuro said, “It’s a way to strike a compromise between the rights of the accused and the rights of the victims.”

There's a video report

E. Texas psychiatrist Riyaz Mazcuri has been arrested, accused of trafficking Indian women for forced labor, prostitution

As reported on the KLTV website KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

An East Texas psychiatrist has been arrested and charged in connection with what’s being described as a ‘forced labor conspiracy’ in New York.

Riyaz Mazcuri, was arrested Thursday by the Gregg County Sheriff's Office and booked in the jail on a federal warrant.

According to documents from the federal court in the Southern District of New York, Mazcuri, known as ‘The Doctor,’ was indicted along with three other men accused of organizing a human trafficking organization.

Mazcuri is a psychiatrist who has practiced in Texas for several years in Houston and most recently at a facility in Kilgore.

Federal court documents state the men would hire female dancers in India under the assumption they would perform cultural programs in the United States. Prosecutors allege when they would get to the U.S., the women would be forced to dance in nightclubs in front of men for twelve to fourteen hours per night, seven nights a week. Some of the performers were reportedly engaged in prostitution. The men would reportedly force the women to perform by confiscating their passports and by threatening them with physical violence.

The group reportedly operated in New York and in other locations from 2008 to 2010.

According to jail records, Mazcuri has a Houston address. He appeared before a judge via video conference Friday afternoon where a judge allowed Mazcuri to be released on $300,000 bond. Mazcuri must now appear before a judge in a New York City federal court on August 1.

Comedy TV: Beverly Hillbillies Season 1 Episode 34 - The Psychiatrist Gets Clampetted

Classic American TV Comedy Show

The show was ranked #1 and attracted as many as 60 million viewers per week. The Clampett Clan included Buddy Ebsen (Jed), Irene Ryan ("Granny"), Max Baer Jr. (Jethro), Donna Douglas (Elly May). Also starred Raymond Bailey (Milburn Drysdale), and Nancy Kulp (Jane Hathaway)

In this episode, Jethro finally gets his bill of health from Dr. Twombly so he can graduate the fifth grade, but Twombly really wants to talk to Grannie again. Drysdale brings him to the Clampetts' just as Grannie showed Pearl how to use a love potion, so everyone thinks Twombly's interest in Grannie is love.

Disciplinary Hearing of Florida Psychiatrist Ronald Kurlander

As seen in the description on YouTube

On April 5, 2013 in Deerfield Beach, Florida psychiatrist Ronald Kurlander was disciplined by the Florida Department of Health. He was accused of prescribing drugs to people he had never examined or even met. The father of one of Kurlander's patients gave testimony as to the extensive damage caused by these drugs to his son. Kurlander is the one with the moustache and goatee with wire frame glasses seated to he left. He was fined over $30,000.00, given a reprimand, ordered to take a law and rules course, a drug course and a medical records course. Additionally, he has to undergo a risk management assessment.