Crimes Reported To State Not Forwarded For Prosecution - Psychiatrist Admits To Having Sex With Patients, But Never Charged

As reported on theDenverChannel.com

A psychiatrist who has admitted to having sex with female patients will never be prosecuted for his crime.

7NEWS Investigator John Ferrugia has been looking into previous actions taken by the state medical board but was unable to find the exact number of doctors who have committed similar crimes because the state board records are sealed.

When Dr. Kim Nagel surrendered his medical license in 2004, he admitted to having sex with at least two of his female patients, 7NEWS reported.

Yet since neither the medical board nor the attorney general's office reported Nagel's apparent criminal behavior to the local district attorney, it is now too late for prosecution.

Nagel was investigated by the state medical board after one of his patients, Tina Garcia, filed a complaint in 2003.

Garcia said he had diagnosed her with a sleeping disorder.

"I was incredibly vulnerable because I was ... weakened from a lack of sleep," Garcia said. "I think I would have clutched at any promise to help me break that cycle."

Garcia claims that Nagel manipulated her into depending on him by using intimate facts she had revealed to him during therapy sessions. This dependence led to sex.

"I remember opening the door and he had a vacant stare in his eyes and never spoke to me. He just pulled my flannel nightgown off, [and] had sex with me on the floor. Never said a word," Garcia said.

Eventually, Nagel moved in with Garcia for a short time. Garcia said she believed in him.

"There was no doubt, if I wanted to be healed ... that Dr. Nagel was the answer," she said.

As their affair ended, documents show that Nagel wanted to pay Garcia $300,000 to keep quiet and not report him to the state medical board.

When Garcia did report Nagel to the state medical board, she found out that she was not the only woman involved with the married doctor. He had admitted to having sex with another patient as well, which is a criminal felony in the state of Colorado.

"I was absolutely destroyed," Garcia said.

7NEWS found another sanction against Nagel in 1995.

Yet neither the medical board nor the state attorney general -- who represents all state agencies -- ever referred any of Nagel's charges to the Denver district attorney for prosecution.

"There is no requirement that you inform the victim that there is a possible criminal activity which he or she can report? And there's no requirement that you report it yourself?" Ferrugia asked Colorado's Chief Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Coffman.

Coffman replied, "That's correct."

Despite there being no reporting requirement, Coffman believes that Garcia was informed of her rights in this instance. Coffman believes that her office told Garcia that she could report the crime to the district attorney's office.

"I believe we spoke to the victim, in that particular case who you have spoken to, and told her that she could make a referral and suggested that she speak to the district attorney in Denver," Coffman said.

But Garcia said she thought the attorney general would be the one to file the complaint.

"I presumed based on my conversation with the attorney general's office that formal criminal charges would be placed [and that] he would be listed as a repeat sexual offender," Garcia said.

Coffman explained that it "has not been the policy in the past" for the attorney general's office to directly report any crimes that were reported to them.

In fact, a 2005 audit shows that in the 18-month period prior to December 2004, only two of 260 known criminal offenses were directly referred for investigation by the attorney general or by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.

When Garcia finally approached the Denver district attorney, Nagel could not be prosecuted because the three-year statute of limitations had run out.

Garcia said, "Because Dr. Nagel was never criminally charged, Dr. Nagel can reapply for a medical license, not just in Colorado, but anywhere in the nation."

When asked if he should get his medical license back, Nagel said he believes that he should.

As a result of Ferrugia's investigation, Coffman said her office and the Department of Regulatory Agencies are now discussing a new policy involving formal notification to potential victims where a crime may have already been committed.