Lots of shrinks specialize in fantasies, but some forget who is being treated. Hope you're not one of them.
MORGAN HILL DOCTOR ACCUSED OF ASSAULT BY 2 FEMALE PATIENTS
BY DALE RODEBAUGH Mercury News
A Morgan Hill psychiatrist is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a hearing to determine whether there is reason to try him on charges of sexually assaulting two female former patients, one of them a minor.
Dean Gary Freedlander, 49, is charged with one count of lewd and lascivious acts for allegedly inappropriately touching a teenage girl. He also faces one count of sexual exploitation for allegedly making sexual advances toward an adult woman, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein said Friday.
On March 27, Freedlander, a resident of San Francisco, was ordered by a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge not to practice psychiatry until his legal troubles are resolved, Candis Cohen of the Medical Board of California said Friday. The board is conducting its own investigation, she added.
``These allegations are completely false,'' Freedlander's attorney, Kleigh Hathaway, said. ``Dr. Freedlander is a well-respected psychiatrist, one of the few in Morgan Hill who has been able to treat patients with severe problems. There has been no objective weighing of facts. I know he will be completely exonerated.''
Freedlander turned himself in to Morgan Hill police Jan. 11 after a warrant had been issued for his arrest, said Morgan Hill police officer Mike Nelsen. Nelsen said the charges against Freedlander involve a 14-year-old girl from Los Gatos and a 48-year-old Morgan Hill woman.
Fein declined to specify the nature of Freedlander's alleged misconduct, which is said to have occurred on more than one occasion with each victim during counseling sessions at his office in Morgan Hill.
The alleged acts involving the juvenile occurred from May 1 to Dec. 1, 1998. The adult's complaint involves alleged acts committed from Feb. 1 to May 16, 2000.
If convicted of both counts, Freedlander could spend three years in prison, Fein said. |
