An Esteemed Doctor, Child Sexual Abuse Claims and a Hospital That Knew for Years

The hospital's response? "“We are appalled to hear those accounts of Dr. Archibald’s reprehensible behavior. We deeply regret pain and suffering caused to any of Dr. Archibald’s former patients,” the statement read." OMG - it's Kevin Spacey all over again.

The Catholic Church protests because it might have to pay damages! That's reprehensible.

My first gynecologist was a famous Manhattan doctor that invented the vaccine known as Rhogam that allows women to have an RH negative blood test to ensure they deliver healthy babies. I myself had this test when I gave birth to my son almost twenty years after the incident I'm about to describe. Potentially millions of women's lives have been saved by this man, but... This was my first gynecological exam and I was scared. After he examined my vagina etc... this man proceeded to do a breast exam on me. "Now is the fun part," he said. I never have been to a male doctor since then except for my dentist whom I adore. In my birthing room I had a female doctor and only female nurses were permitted into my room by my husband who had strict instructions. This experience certainly has stayed with me for the last forty years, but I'm glad I learned as early as possible and in as mild a way as possible not to trust male doctors. Sorry, but that's how it goes.

To me, these accusations against, first a gynecologist and an endocrinologist are disquieting . Because some of the people complaining seem to have a misunderstanding as to what kind of physical exam they should expect from each physician. I read in a NY Times column where a woman complained that the gynecologist touched her clitoris. And similar complaints were voiced about the pediatric endocrinologist. A good exam by a gynecologist would include examining the clitoris. Women can have phimosis, just as some men do. It is an expected part of the exam on a man that the physician checks physically or questions whether the foreskin of the penis can be retracted. That same exam would include feeling the testicles for unnatural growths and varicose veins. And the same question or physical test should be part of the examination of a woman. As a woman I can tell you that examining the clitorises is neglected by many gynecologists. But it shouldn't be so. Usually, in women the hood covers the clitoris. How would a physician know if the hood can be retracted, if he doesn't physically exam it or ask the patient? Pediatric endocrinologists are often very concerned with the development of ordinary and secondary sexual characteristics in their patients. Because hormone insufficiencies often lead to a failure of sexual characteristics and functions to develop normally. Measurements and photos are/were collected for patient records. Textbooks are/were illustrated with photographs.

I saw this guy once in the early 1960s. Pose and pictures, check. Asked me to sit on his lap. Even at that age, I knew this was downright creepy. Never told anyone. When I read the headline and saw his picture, it came back to me like it was yesterday. If there is an afterlife, I hope he is suffering. But, alas, there isn't.

The continued insanity of civilized humanity: The predator using his reputation and ability to bring in money and prestige to cover his perversions. The organization ignoring all moral reasoning in the name of money and prestige.Turning blind eyes by allowing and condoning any adult be left alone with a child for exams and testing. The parents leaving the children, who's health they are so concerned about alone for exams, - scared little children - and being so trusting of their children to a stranger based on reputation. The parents who are worried for the child's sake that they not be made fun of for it would reflect badly on them-the parents. The parents, preferring that their children be ignorant of inappropriate touching and sex education for it would embarrass them-the parents. Child abuse is abhorrent but even more so when parents prefer ignorance and stupidity of the possibility over protecting their child. The religious zealots and ultra conservatives are pushing for an increase in the ignorance in this day and age by decrying sex education. They need those helpless victims and hapless parents to push fear that education encourages intelligence.

This is absolutely sickening. And to know that the research center knew of the proven abuse for the past 14 years and never reached out to anyone is beyond reprehensible. And oh, of course the legislation proposed by governor Cuomo that would allow victims of sexual abuse to seek some form of justice, “has been held up in the State Senate and is vigorously opposed by institutions, including the Roman Catholic Church, which has argued that the one-year window could lead to catastrophic financial damage.” What about the catastrophic mental damage suffered by this evil doctors abuse? The church is a institution that has been committing fiendish acts for centuries, from murder and financial crimes to the rape and sexual abuse of children for hundreds of years. It is time that the church is shut down, most of its leaders be locked away, and all assets seized and sold and given to the hundreds of thousands of children who had been abused at the hands of their clergy.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2007-11-29-0711290273-sto... The West Hartford police announced that a homeowner renovating the Griswold Drive home previously owned by Reardon found in May a staggering cache of child pornography hidden behind basement wall panels. Reardon had practiced medicine at St. Francis for 30 years, and, as chief of endocrinology, was a prominent member of the staff. He had resigned from the hospital in 1993. His home, part of an estate valued at less than half a million dollars when he died, has twice been sold, most recently in 2003. The magnitude of the basement find, according to Lt. Donald Melanson, one of the West Hartford investigators on the case, was stunning - about 50,000 35mm slides and more than 100 8mm video reels. The number of victims - people previously unknown to federal, state and local law enforcement experts who investigate child pornography - appears to be in the hundreds, Melanson said.

Some here have pointed, with some justification, to the gender bias that informs whether survivors of sexual abuse are believed or not. It is worth pointing out, though, that for many years, the survivors mentioned in this article were not believed, at least by Rockefeller University officials and, apparently, the Manhattan DA's office. This points, I think, to the fact that gender bias, while certainly part of the picture, is only a part of it. Class bias also certainly factors here. For too long, many of us have had a tendency to believe that such scandalous crimes as the sexual abuse of children, and indeed a propensity towards criminality in general, occurs mostly among those of lower socioeconomic standing then ourselves, despite mountains of evidence that such sexual abuse occurs across all strata of society. We see this bias even today, when the President casually describes immigrants and refugees from Mexico and elsewhere south of the border, as a group, as rapists and drug dealers. Can anyone doubt that had, say, a custodian at the same hospital been accused of inappropriate contact with children, the university and the Manhattan DA's office would have promptly investigated the complaints with all due rigor, and if appropriate, would have pursued criminal charges?

While the Catholic Church is concerned about financial ruin, these young people, who are now adults, have been traumatized by this repulsive behavior. Shame on the individuals responsible for this behavior and the institutions that protect them. Our laws must protect the survivors.

The meme of gender bias (women are not believed; men are) in accepting the testimony of sexual assault victims depends, it seems to me, on which cases we call to mind for evaluation. Given the compelling testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford which was ultimately disbelieved by the Senate, whenever a case with male victims gets credible treatment from the press, we see evidence of gender bias. But let's consider another case, Cardinal McCarrick. His victims were all male, and they were disbelieved for decades despite their stories being rather widely known among Catholic clergy. Could it be, rather than gender bias, there is another bias afoot. The higher the status of the accused perpetrator, the less likely the victims are to be believed. Thousands of stories of sex abuse of children, male and female, are to be found in court records that never attract the attention of the new media. Victims of both sexes accusing less exalted perpetrators get believed all the time. Its only the superstar predators that benefit 100% from the presumption of innocence until proven guilty by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. It seems to me that the most convincing evidence in all of these cases is multiplicity of victims.

And....we believe the victims! Interesting, since we don't believe the women!

I am not a bit surprised. This is so common.Happend to me....for years. Sexual abuse of children is unforgivable. But little can be done about it once it happens to you.

The stench of personal and institutional patriarchy is blooming across the nation as it is reveals that we’re not just a nation of violent people, we are a nation that shields patriarchy’s predatory excess through sexual assaults. All weve done is talk about these two issues until the #MeToo movement used the power of our voices as a forklift that raises the heavy veil that rejects truth, accountability, reform and an end to the age of men abusing power in the most perverted ways.

I’ll never forget this guy. My mother took me around 1971 because I was so much smaller than my classmates for my age. He took photos of me exactly as described including some ‘close-ups’. He never touched me, and I never went back because I was too close to puberty to get the hormones. In those days doctors were so looked up to, no one questioned these methods. I’m glad even after his death, a spotlight is being shown on how trusting parents & children were used.

My parents, worried that my sexual maturing was not proceeding properly, took me to see Dr. Archibald in the early 1950s, when I was a teenager. I don't retain much memory of the encounter or encounters, but I am certain that nothing untoward took place. I remember a brisk, friendly man whose examination of my body was clearly focused on the medical and scientific aspects of my case. I was comfortable with him, and liked him. He finally pronounced me "normal." Obviously, my experience in no way contradicts what others are apparently reporting, but I feel it should be made part of the record.

And even when the memories are spotty, we believe these men. As we should believe them....and women, too. Ironic that we withhold that instant belief from women and girls.

Check Johns Hopkins as to why he laft after 2 years.

The crimes described in this article are eerily similar to those committed by the late Dr. George Reardon of Hartford, Connecticut from the 1950s through the 1990s. Archibald's professional specialty, patterns of abuse, pretense of conducting research, even the luring of victims to his summer home, exactly mirror Reardon's methodology. Switch names, dates and hospitals and this article could be written about either one of these criminals, and how many others? Might there be a connection between these two predators?The conspiracy of silence among medical professionals must be brought to an end. The statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse must be extended or eliminated. Lobby Governor Andrew Cuomo and your New York State legislators to pass the Child Victims Act in 2019.

Truly despicable; the man, and the administrators who failed to respond to early complaints.

Opening a one year window when all victims could sue is "vigorously opposed by institutions, including the Roman Catholic Church, which has argued that the one-year window could lead to catastrophic financial damage." Boo-hoo. Should've thought about that. Men of god indeed.

My family doctor molested my sister (I learned later). He was a Harvard educated doctor in a rural area. He had authority. I remember in middle school he was no longer allowed to do physicals for little girls alone. A nurse had to be present. I don’t know the details of the arrangement but I wonder if he’d been caught, and somebody thought, “he’s such an impressive man, maybe we shouldn’t ruin his career. Let’s just make sure he’s supervised, with the little girls at least.”

The hospital, the Catholic church, don't want justice, because the "financial damage could be catastrophic". The human toll? They don't care.

Were the " victims " drinking ? How did they get there, and get home ? What were they wearing ? Why, exactly, did they wait for YEARS before coming forward ? What's in it, for them ? See how it works, when any Female makes accusations.