Thursday, August 09, 2007

Psychiatrist admits to sex with patient

From this report out of Minnesota

A New Brighton psychiatrist charged with sexually assaulting a female patient as part of her "therapy" has a court hearing Aug. 17.

Thomas Lee Folsom, 52, had begun treating the patient in 1999 when she was hospitalized for depression and an eating disorder, according to the criminal complaint.

According to the complaint:

Folsom initially saw the woman two or three times a week, but the sessions eventually became almost daily. When the patient's father complained in 2002 about the expenses - by then, $77,000 - Folsom said he would continue the treatment "for free," the complaint said.

During the sessions, Folsom asked the woman to take off her clothes, which she did, and there was sexual contact on numerous occasions, most occurring in Golden Valley and Minneapolis.

In a tape-recorded conversation between Folsom and the patient, the psychiatrist admitted the sexual contact and later told police it had occurred "hundreds of times," the complaint said.

He was charged in April with four counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Hennepin County District Court.

Folsom's attorney, Eric Olson, declined to comment.

Folsom is the former chief of psychiatry at Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center.

A Web page for his practice says he works out of a Nicollet Mall office in downtown Minneapolis. Under "Care Philosophy," Folsom states, "my emphasis is on nonmedication approaches to anxiety, depression and psychosomatic conditions."

No comments: