December 10, 2007

PLANTIFFS CLAIM DOCTOR ABUSED THEM

Two attorneys begin filing suits against physician’s estate.

Just days after authorities found more than 50,000 slides of nude children at the former home of a West Hartford doctor, a man claiming to be one of the victims filed a lawsuit against the physician's estate.

Also named in the suit is St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, where Dr. George Reardon was the chief of endocrinology before his death in 1998. According to the lawsuit, Reardon took photos of the plaintiff when the doctor claimed he was doing a study of pediatric and adolescent growth and development.

In the lawsuit, attorney Paul T. Edwards, a partner in New Haven-based Stratton Faxon, alleged reckless assault and battery, negligence and failure to obtain informed consent against St. Francis and Reardon.

"I live in West Hartford," said Edwards. "And to think this nightmare affected so many people in our community is upsetting."

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Susan K. Smith, of Avon's Smith & Moore, filed complaints on behalf of two "John Roes" who said they were victimized by Reardon, the first of 16 cases she plans to file. During the 1990s, Smith brought civil cases against Reardon on behalf of six plaintiffs.

She noted that St. Francis has taken out newspaper advertisements attesting to its concern that any victims of Reardon be treated fairly. "If they're sincere, that's great," she said.

However, during civil actions against Reardon in the 1990s, she said, the defense lawyers were "vicious" in their zeal, she said.

"One of my clients said he was eventually able to achieve a level of peace with what Reardon had done," she said, "but not with how the defense lawyers treated him."

Shielded Identity

In his lawsuit, Edward's client is identified only as John Doe #1. Edwards said his client was 12 to 14 years old when he encountered Reardon in the 1970s. Reardon said he is being careful to shield his client's identity partly because, when Reardon was investigated by the state board of health in the 1990s, "part of the defense strategy was to accuse the complainants of being liars and having mental problems."

The complaint alleges the boy was taken to Reardon's office at the hospital after hours and on weekends, had a mask or shroud placed over his head, and was photographed naked in a sexually aroused condition. The complaint also said he was forced to masturbate and remain naked "for a prolonged period of time so Reardon could obtain sexual gratification."

Reardon's hospital office was used "to try to legitimize what he was doing, because he claimed that he was conducting studies on human growth and development of pediatric and adolescent patient," said Edwards. "He said he needed to photograph children in various poses and position, naked, because he claimed he needed the information for this supposed study he was doing. No study was ever published or located that any of us was able to discover to date."

Instead, it appears that Reardon may have wanted the photographs for other purposes. In late November, police reported discovery of 50,000 slides and more than 100 8mm movies of nude children at Reardon's former West Hartford home.

The cache of child pornography was discovered in a secret compartment in the basement of the Griswold Drive home while the current owner was conducting renovations. West Hartford police reported that hundreds of children may have been involved.

Barry Feldman, senior vice president and general counsel, for St. Francis, said that it is not clear that John Doe #1 was a patient at the hospital. "He may just have been someone in the community, or a neighbor of Dr. Reardon's, and Dr. Reardon chose to bring him to the hospital," said Feldman. "That's a substantive difference in terms of the relationship that this individual may have had with St. Francis, and it has a bearing on whatever obligations St. Francis may have had to that individual."

After a quick review of Edwards's complaint, Feldman said: "There doesn't appear to me to be a basis for any wrongdoing by St. Francis itself, putting aside any liability St. Francis might have for activities of one of its employees."

One task is identifying the people in the photos, he said. "The hospital has set up a confidential toll-free number, 1-877-288-5774, where we'll be inviting victims and their families to call, talk about their issues, talk about their concerns. St. Francis intends to make available to these victims a program of counseling or other support that we hope will be well-received and be helpful to the victims and their families."

More Interviews

Edwards said the Stratton Faxon firm is currently interviewing several other former patients of Reardon. Civil claimants are permitted to file actions for childhood sexual abuse for 30 years after they turn 18, said Edwards, so a potential litigant may file up until the day before his or her 48th birthday.

If the plaintiff's face is not visible, it may make it more difficult to establish he was victimized, Edwards acknowledged. "That might make it a little difficult, but we've done some investigation and research ourselves, and we are confident that our client was a victim of this, and that we'll be able to establish that," said Edwards, who acknowledged that he had not seen any of the photographs yet.

West Hartford police, he said, have received more than 50 calls from people who say they were victimized by Dr. Reardon.

"With over 50,000 photos, I wouldn't be surprised if, by the end of this, we find there were hundreds of victims — all part of this alleged study" continuing from the 1950s, when Reardon was a medical student, into the 1980s.

Edwards said Stratton Faxon has taken out newspaper articles urging potential plaintiffs to speak with a lawyer about their legal rights before they respond to any of the hospital's offers.

"We expect to be filing quite a few more cases in the coming weeks," he said.