New York judge convicts ex-gynecologist who abused hundreds of women

NEW YORK – A former gynecologist convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of patients has been ordered to serve the next two months in jail while awaiting sentencing, a federal judge in New York City ruled on Wednesday.

After hearing testimony from some of the victims during the bail hearing, US District Court Judge Richard Berman succinctly gunned down defense attorneys who were trying to allow doctor Robert Hadden to stay free while he attended a sentencing hearing in April waits.

“I’m done and you’re done,” Berman was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News. Afterward, Hadden’s attorneys filed an appeal against the judge’s arrest warrant.

Hadden had worked at two renowned hospitals in Manhattan — Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital — until complaints about his attacks ended his career a decade ago.

Hadden, 64, from Englewood, NJ was sentenced last week after less than a day of deliberations in a two-week trial in which nine former patients described how he sexually abused them during investigations when they were most vulnerable.

One of his victims was Evelyn Yang, the wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City.

Hadden’s conviction in federal court on four counts of enticing victims to cross state lines to sexually assault them carries a potential sentence of decades in prison.

Following the verdict, US Attorney Damian Williams issued a statement calling Hadden “a predator in a white coat.”

At the time, the judge declined to immediately send Hadden to jail, but indicated he was “perplexed” that Hadden avoided jail.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the judge heard from nine women who had been harassed by the doctor, as well as written statements from 43 other victims — all urging the judge to immediately place Hadden in custody.

He was under electronic surveillance and was released on $1 million bail.

Hadden’s attorneys argued that he was not a risk of absconding, but federal prosecutors urged the judge to consider the seriousness of his crimes.

For Hadden’s prosecutors, the federal case represents a second chance for a tougher sentence for the doctor. In his 2016 pleading with the Manhattan Attorney’s Office, Hadden relinquished his medical license but did not serve a prison sentence.

Then-district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. defended his decision. With no guarantees of conviction, he argued, his office was seeking a plea deal to prevent Hadden from practicing medicine and harassing more women.