A federal judge in New York City ruled Wednesday that an ex-gynecologist convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of patients was ordered to spend the next two months in prison as he awaits verdict.
After hearing reports from sexually abused victims during the bail hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman denied defense attorneys’ request to keep the doctor, Robert Hadden, free pending an April sentencing hearing.
“I’m done, and you’re done,” Berman said, according to the New York Daily News. Following that, Hadden’s attorneys filed papers to challenge the judge’s detention order.
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(Photo: New York Post)
Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital are two prestigious Manhattan hospitals where Hadden worked before — until reports about his sexual abuse denied his career decades ago.
Hadden, 64, of Englewood, New Jersey, was convicted last week after less than a day of deliberations at a two-week trial, in which nine former patients expressed how he sexually abused them during tests when they were most vulnerable.
Erlyn Yang was one of his victims, the wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Hadden’s federal court conviction on four counts of enticing victims to cross state lines so he could sexually abuse them carries a potential prison sentence of decades.
After the verdict, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams gave a statement calling Hadden a predator in a white coat.
At the hearing on Wednesday, the judge heard from nine women who had been victims of the doctor, as well as written statements from 43 other victims, all of whom urged the judge to remand Hadden in custody immediately.
Cyrus Vance Jr., the district attorney at the time, defended his decision. He argued that because a conviction was not guaranteed, his office sought a plea deal to keep Hadden from practicing medicine and sexually abusing more women.
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