Child doctor accused of using role to abuse staggering number of kids in ‘one of America’s worst-ever pedophile cases’
A pediatrician who is accused in a civil lawsuit of sexually abusing more than 100 children has been ordered to pay nearly $2billion to his victims.
The alleged victims say in their lawsuits Dr Stuart Copperman sexually abused them during physical exams at appointments, which took place in his medical office in the basement of his house in Merrick, New York, a town on Long Island about 35 miles east of Manhattan.
However, Copperman, who is accused of abuse dating back to the 1960s, was never charged with any crime and only lost his medical license because of the allegations when he was 65 years old in 2000.
The abuse, the alleged victims claim in the suits, included Copperman, now 89 and living in Florida, rubbing their genital area, including their vagina and clitoris.
The former doctor has repeatedly denied the allegations and said he was just being ‘thorough’ during his examinations, though the board reviewing his medical license said ‘rubbing female genitalia during a physical examination is always inappropriate.’
In the civil action, the judge ruled for the women because Copperman failed to respond to the lawsuit.
One of the victims who spoke publicly of her alleged abuse was Rev. Debbi Rhodes, who accused Copperman of sexually abusing her beginning in 1968 when she was seven years old.
Rhodes, 63, received $25million in the lawsuit against the former doctor. Two other women identified only as Jane Doe in litigation were both awarded $27million. The former patients are just some of 104 women who were awarded money, with amounts ranging from $500,000 to $32million.
Dr Stuart Copperman (pictured here) has been accused of sexually abusing his young female patients
Rhodes told the Associated Press: ‘I’m not sure if he’s facing justice. He kind of got away with it for all these years. But to have a court say, definitively, “I believe you” – to hear that – that’s heavy medicine right there.’
One Jane Doe told AP: ‘It feels good to know that someone heard us. People now understand the magnitude of what he did.’
In legal documents regarding the matter of Copperman’s medical license from 2000, it is stated that around 1982, a woman identified as ‘Patient A’ was 14 years old and Copperman told her he needed to clean her genital area.
He took her into a private room alone where he ‘spread Patient A’s knees apart and using his bare fingers touched and rubbed her genital area for a few minutes.’
Similar events occurred ‘on one or more occasions’ until 1986 when the patient was 17.
In 1989, the former doctor allegedly did the same to a Patient B when she was 20 years old.
A woman identified as Patient C accused Copperman of similar acts.
She said in 1980, when she was 16 years old, the former doctor told her he needed to clean her genital area.
Copperman then allegedly ‘rubbed and touched Patient C’s vaginal area and clitoris with ungloved hands.’
The document details similar instances among additional women identified as Patients E through G, taking place from 1978 to 1989.
The women ranged in ages from 10 to 20 years old at the time of the alleged misconduct.
The medical board reviewing the case of Copperman’s license wrote: ‘Respondent is found to have engaged in professional misconduct by reason of willfully harassing, abusing or intimidating a patient either physically verbally.
‘The hearing committee found patients A, B, C, E, F and G to be credible witnesses. Their delay in coming forth to report the pertinent facts is understandable.’
The committee concluded: ‘The Hearing Committee determines and orders that Respondent’s [Copperman’s] license to practice medicine be revoked.’
An attorney who has represented Copperman over the years did not respond to messages seeking comment from the AP.
Victims say Dr Stuart Copperman sexually abused them during physical exams (stock photo)
Copperman never faced criminal charges or disciplinary action, though lawsuits from Rhodes and other victims claim some of the women filed complaints with local police and medical boards.
It wasn’t until the medical board heard from the patients identified as Patient A through G that action was taken.
Despite the board’s findings, Copperman’s alleged victims weren’t able to sue him because of the statute of limitations. However, in 2019, New York’s Child Victims Act was passed and temporarily allowed people to file suit over sexual abuse they suffered as children.
The Long Island court hearing the case ruled in favor of the women because the former doctor never responded to the lawsuits.
Judgments were made in several separate instances over the course of the last year.
In April 2024, Jane Doe T.A. was awarded $27million. Rhodes’ win came in December 2024 and the rest of the 104 rulings were decided March 28.
Kristen Gibbons Feden, a lawyer representing the group of women, said: ‘For decades, these women were silenced and dismissed. Now, they cannot be ignored.’
The women also sued local hospitals and healthcare systems but those claims were dismissed.
Lawyers for the women told AP they had retained a collections specialist to begin pursuing compensation from Copperman.
Rhodes and other plaintiffs also told the AP they’ve accepted the possibility they may never see much, if any, of the money they are owed given how large a sum it is.
When a person loses a lawsuit but cannot pay the money ordered, debt collectors may go after any wages the defendant makes, as well as other financial sources, such as bank accounts and properties.
