Frederick Pediatrician Indicted On Additional 65 Charges Including Child Sex Abuse, Assault
FREDERICK, Md. (WJZ) -- A Frederick pediatrician was arrested Monday after he was indicted on an additional 65 charges, including child sex abuse and sexual assault. Dr. Ernesto Torres was already charged in the rape of a patient and the assaults of two other people, including an 11-year-old girl.
Torres was indicted on 9 counts of child sex abuse, 10 counts of sex abuse of a minor, 43 counts of a third-degree sex offense, two counts of a second-degree sex offense and one count second-degree assault Friday by a Grand Jury. Police arrested him around 2:27 p.m. Monday on these charges.
Eleven more victims came forward following the initial charges. A bond review will be scheduled for Tuesday in Frederick County Court.
"All described inappropriate touching under their clothing, so very unfortunate, very sad set of facts," Frederick County States Attorney Charlie Smith stated.
Frederick Pediatrician Indicted For Allegedly Sexually Assaulting 18-Year-Old During Examination
Torres was charged on May 3 for the alleged rape of an 18-year-old patient in late April. He was arrested on May 7.
"The incident occurred in April, and the young lady reported it right away to her dad. Her dad contacted the Frederick Police Department, and they conducted the investigation," Smith said.
The 68-year-old doctor was charged with second-degree rape, second-degree assault, and fourth-degree sex offense in that incident.
Then two more victims came forward -- one of them is an 11-year-old girl.
"The one case did involve an examination for a skin condition. And while examining the 11-year-old girl with regard to that skin condition, inappropriate conduct occurred," Smith said.
Torres has been a licensed physician since 1979, specializing in pediatrics.
He is the only doctor at his small practice.
In a May 8 court appearance, Judge Martz-Fisher set his bond in the amount of $100,000 secured with the conditions of home detention, no unsupervised contact with patients or minors, and surrender his passport.
"We believe based on the allegations that Dr. Torres poses a significant threat to the public, which is why we requested he be held without bond. To date, we have had 11 additional potential victims come forward. We will review each one independently of the other to determine whether they are sufficient to charge. We again encourage anyone with information regarding the case to contact authorities immediately," Smith stated.
WJZ performed a search on the Maryland Board of Physicians website. Torres' license was issued nearly four decades ago. Under "known disciplinary actions" he has a clean record for the past 10 years.
"I just think that it's really awful if it's true," John Mount, of Frederick, said.
The Frederick Police Department believe there could still be other victims in this case. Anyone with information about this case, including other potential victims should contact Detective Sean McKinney at 240-578-5683.
There are many resources available online and locally that provide tips on having these conversations. Local resources are available for victims of sexual assault including:
- Frederick Police Department, Victim Services Unit (301) 600-1356
- The Child Advocacy Center (301) 600-1758
- Heartly House (301) 662-8800