Doctor who sexually assaulted patients gets more than 12 years in prison
Dr. Kevin Antario Brown
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A doctor who sexually assaulted eight female patients and an undercover detective while working at three medical facilities in Los Angeles and Glendale was sentenced today to 12 1/2 years in prison.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor rejected a defense motion for a new trial for Dr. Kevin Antario Brown, the son of former Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown.
The 40-year-old Brown was convicted Aug. 15 of nine counts of sexual exploitation by a physician, eight counts of sexual battery by fraud and one count each of forcible penetration by a foreign object, penetration by a foreign object by fraud, lewd act on a child and attempted sexual battery by fraud. The charges involved crimes between 2003 and 2008.
Jurors deadlocked on eight other charges against Brown, and Pastor dismissed those counts today.
Brown’s attorney, Edi M.O. Faal, told reporters after the verdict was reached that the defense was “extremely disappointed” with the jury’s findings.
Faal said the defense believed that each of the women “had a credibility issue,” but added that “the sheer numbers of alleged victims was a major hurdle to overcome.”
“... We just couldn’t overcome that,” the lawyer said.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Ann Marie Wise told jurors the victims all described similar scenarios, including Brown flirting with patients, asking them out, making unnecessary comments and performing unnecessary breast and vaginal examinations.
Each one of them told someone what had happened before eventually going to police, including one who told police she was raped after Brown visited her at her apartment, Wise said.
Knowing that they had to come forward “once they knew they weren’t alone,” the majority of the victims contacted authorities after Brown was charged with sexually assaulting one female patient and an undercover officer who had been sent into his office, Wise said.
Brown’s attorney countered that there were inconsistencies in the women’s stories, noting that no one ever heard the patients screaming or telling the doctor to stop.
The defense lawyer accused an undercover police detective of lying that the doctor had held her breasts during an examination involving a problem with her ankle. He noted that it was “nowhere on (an audio) tape.”
Shortly after Brown was charged in July 2008, a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner barred him from seeing female patients without a chaperone approved by the Medical Board of California.
By Terri Vermeulen Keith | City News Service
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A doctor was convicted today of 21 counts of sexually assaulting eight female patients and an undercover policewoman while working at the Crenshaw Expo Medical Center in Los Angeles, along with two other facilities in Los Angeles and Glendale.
Dr. Kevin Antario Brown, 40, the son of former Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown, was taken into custody after the jury’s verdicts were read. The eight-man, four-woman jury in his trial deadlocked on eight other counts, and a mistrial was declared on those charges.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — An ex-doctor who was also a minister was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison for selling a “brown sludge” made of suntan lotion and beef flavoring as a miracle cancer cure to patients across the country, via ads on a religious TV network and her Mission Hills clinic.
Christine Daniel, 58, of Santa Clarita, who operated a clinic under such names as the Sonrise Wellness Center, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Timlin, who remanded Daniel into custody following the four-hour hearing.
LAWNDALE, Calif. — A 60-year-old instructional aide at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale was facing possible charges today for allegedly sexually molesting a mentally challenged 16-year-old girl.
Juan Carlos Gutierrez was arrested Friday and was booked on suspicion of annoying or molesting a child, according to the sheriff’s department. He was released on bond Saturday.
According sheriff’s detectives, Gutierrez went into a stairwell at the school with the girl and fondled her over her clothing on Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The prime suspect in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 10-year-old Northridge girl was arrested today in Mexico.
Tobias Dustin Summers was arrested by Mexican police working with the Los Angeles Police Department and FBI, according to Lourdes Arocho of the FBI.
The circumstances and exact location of his arrest were not immediately available.
KNX Newsradio reported that Summers was found at a Mexican drug rehabilitation center after tips were received by FBI agents in San Diego.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A man accused of sexually assaulting an employee during a robbery at a Nordstrom Rack in Westchester, in which 14 employees were taken hostage, pleaded not guilty today to 19 felony charges.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba ordered Raymond Sherman Jr., 34, to remain jailed on $4.78 million bail pending his next court appearance Jan. 28, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.
