CT - Police Search for Victims in Dr. George Reardon's child 🤬🤬🤬🤬

[Missizzy]

I found a timeline concerning Reardon. You'll note that he abused a young St. Francis patient in the 60s and there was a "modest" settlement much later in a civil suit. Was this not a tip off to the hospital that their doctor might have abused others?

http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-reardon-timeline,0,3533720.story

Timeline: Dr. George Reardon Case

 

[Mercyneal]

Yes, and Reardon was known for carrying a gun to the hospital... yet no one thought it was odd. People apparently just didn't want to face what was going on. We've all heard that before.

 

[Missizzy]

A few questions here. Why was photography by doctors more common "back then"?
Just curious. And why was there never a proposal for the growth study? How did the hospital think it was being funded or carried out in their facility?


http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/...-Underway-In-Sex-Abuse-Scandal-121351434.html

Hospital Sex Abuse Case Goes to Jury

"....Six jurors are now deciding if St. Francis Hospital in Hartford was negligent for failing to oversee the growth study Dr. George Reardon claimed he conducted back in the 1960s through the 1980s. Instead, Reardon used that study as a front to sexually abuse more than 500 children.

The abuse was uncovered in 2007, when 40,000 to 50,000 pornographic pictures were found hidden in a basement wall of Reardon's former West Hartford home during renovations by a new owner...."

and

"...Hospital attorney Paul Williams told jurors that St. Francis Hospital was duped just like the parents of the victims. "Dr. Reardon was a master manipulator," said Williams. He also pointed out that photography was common among doctors back then, that St. Francis Hospital never received any complaints about Reardon, and that Reardon never submitted a proposal for his growth study, so oversight was not required....."


More at link


And:

http://www.courant.com/health/conne...ns-day1-050720110506,0,330785.story?track=rss

St. Francis Jury To Resume Deliberations Monday

".....In a note to Superior Court Judge Dan Shaban at about 3:15 p.m. Friday, the jury said it was having difficulty finding, among the numerous hospital records submitted as trial exhibits, "the initial annual report showing the growth study." Several of the hospital records, including annual reports by the hospital's research committee and its medical department, refer to Reardon's growth study. In some documents, the study is included in lists of ongoing hospital research projects.

Shaban, after consulting with lawyers representing the victim and hospital, told jurors they would have to locate the report themselves. "You have all exhibits," Shaban said. "You were provided an exhibit list that could serve as a guide, that characterizes all exhibits. The court cannot direct you as to where to find certain information. That is your task and duty. You may take as much time as you need...."

More at link

 

[Missizzy]

There's been a settlement:

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/hartford_cty/st.-francis-announces-settlement-in-reardon-suits

St. Francis announces settlement in Reardon suits
May 9, 2011

"St. Francis Hospital announced Monday it has reached a settlement with 32 people suing the hospital over sexual assaults by former staff member Dr. George Reardon. Jury deliberations were expected to continue today the case until the settlement was announced.

St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center was being sued for not doing enough to prevent the late Dr. Reardon from abusing hundreds of children. The attorney for one victim asked for $8 million in damages. This was the first of 93 civil cases against the hospital...."

more at link (including a statement from the hospital)


The following link will not open for me but it looks like a settlement of 17 million:

http://www.ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=40455


ETA: It finally opened:

"....HARTFORD (CT) Connecticut Law Tribune

By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY

"About one-third of the plaintiffs who filed lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Dr. George Reardon have reached a settlement totaling more than $17 million with the Hartford hospital where Reardon worked.

On Monday, as jurors were arriving for their third day of deliberations in a Waterbury courtroom, lawyers in the corporate negligence case against St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center announced a settlement covering 32 of 93 plaintiffs.

The trial for the first plaintiff, known only as John Doe No. 2, had ended and the jury was entering its third day of deliberations when the settlement was announced on Monday. John Doe No. 2 is expected to receive more than $1 million of the settlement pool, which knowledgeable participants confirmed to be in excess of $17 million. Paul Edwards, a lawyer for Stratton & Faxon in New Haven, the law firm representing the 32 plaintiff that settled, said the dollar figures are confidential. He declined to discuss the actual numbers......"

More at link

 

[Missizzy]

I realize that this suit has been settled but I just found an article about a particular expert witness' testimony that floored me. This is what victims have to face in court. And people wonder why they don't disclose. Can you imagine having to prove to a jury that you feel inadequate and depressed because some monster abused you for SEVEN YEARS while you were a young child? And imagine that...the poor man's feelings about Reardon turned negative when the was uncovered.

http://www.ctnow.com/health/connecticut/hc-st-francis-day12-0429-20110428,0,2379829.story

Psychiatric Expert Says Reardon's Abuse Did Not Affect Plaintiff's Emotional Well-Being

"A psychiatric expert for St. Francis Hospital testified Thursday that seven years of sexual abuse by Dr. George Reardon had almost no effect on the emotional well-being of one of his victims. The testimony contrasted sharply with that of an earlier expert and left jurors with a stark choice on an issue that could determine damages in the case.

"I could find no evidence that it impacted his psycho-social functioning," said Dr. Martin Kelly, a Massachusetts psychiatrist who lectures at Harvard University and is associated with several Boston hospitals...."

and

"....Dr. Steven Marans, a Yale University expert on the effect of sexual abuse on children, testified for Doe earlier in the trial that prolonged abuse at the hands of Reardon contributed to the break-up of Doe's marriage. Marans said the abuse left Doe with potentially lifelong emotional problems that include depression, anxiety, uncontrolled anger, a need to control events and feelings of inadequacy.

Despite contradictory diagnoses, both psychiatric experts said that Doe's prolonged exposure to Reardon as a boy left the child with mixed emotions toward his abuser. Among other things, Reardon became a friend of Doe's parents and took Doe and his brother on vacations to the Adirondack mountains. Marans attributed Doe's ambivalence toward Reardon to a phenomenon that causes victims to identify with their abusers...."

more at link

 

[TrueCrimeAuthor11b]

Yes, and Reardon was known for carrying a gun to the hospital... yet no one thought it was odd. People apparently just didn't want to face what was going on. We've all heard that before.

where did you see about the gun?