Dead pedophile's victims to tell stories in court
Source: Agencies |
March 15, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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HE ranks among the most prolific pedophiles in American history, a doctor who abused hundreds if not thousands of children from the 1960s through the 1980s under the guise of a bogus growth study.
The victims of the late Dr George Reardon started coming forward in their droves in 2007, after the owner of Reardon's former Connecticut home cracked open a wall during a renovation project and found a hidden stash of pornographic video reels and more than 50,000 35mm slides.
Now, some are preparing to tell their stories as the first cases related to the abuse go to trial. Jury selection began last week in one of dozens of cases against Reardon's hospital - the start of the Hartford area's first public reckoning of the horrors that damaged the lives of countless boys and girls a generation ago.
"I was using drugs by the time I was 12 years old. I was drinking by the time I was 12 years old. I was pretty much a mess," one plaintiff said. He said he was abused more than 20 times by Reardon and, like the vast majority of alleged victims, has asked to remain anonymous.
Reardon, an endocrinologist, died in 1998 without ever facing any criminal charges.
The lawsuits of the now-middle-aged victims argue that the institution where Reardon practiced medicine for 30 years, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, failed to protect them. The hospital has denied that it bears responsibility for the abuse.
The trial for the first of about 90 plaintiffs is expected to begin in April, with others following one after another, potentially for years. Another 60 or so people filed claims in cases that fell outside the statute of limitations for child abuse.
Investigators say the plaintiffs represent only a small fraction of the children brutalized by Reardon, a doctor who was respected enough in his day to have parents lend their children for the study he used as cover for the abuse.
Police have identified 250 victims by name, but hundreds of other children in the pornographic images never came forward. West Hartford Police Captain Donald Melanson estimates Reardon victimized at least 500 and possibly thousands.
"He had the perfect setup -during a time when people in positions such as doctors had absolute trust," Melanson said.
Police who interviewed the victims said many had struggled with broken relationships, substance-abuse problems, even suicide attempts. Detective Sergeant Frank Fallon said some described being abused routinely in small groups by Reardon.
The victims of the late Dr George Reardon started coming forward in their droves in 2007, after the owner of Reardon's former Connecticut home cracked open a wall during a renovation project and found a hidden stash of pornographic video reels and more than 50,000 35mm slides.
Now, some are preparing to tell their stories as the first cases related to the abuse go to trial. Jury selection began last week in one of dozens of cases against Reardon's hospital - the start of the Hartford area's first public reckoning of the horrors that damaged the lives of countless boys and girls a generation ago.
"I was using drugs by the time I was 12 years old. I was drinking by the time I was 12 years old. I was pretty much a mess," one plaintiff said. He said he was abused more than 20 times by Reardon and, like the vast majority of alleged victims, has asked to remain anonymous.
Reardon, an endocrinologist, died in 1998 without ever facing any criminal charges.
The lawsuits of the now-middle-aged victims argue that the institution where Reardon practiced medicine for 30 years, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, failed to protect them. The hospital has denied that it bears responsibility for the abuse.
The trial for the first of about 90 plaintiffs is expected to begin in April, with others following one after another, potentially for years. Another 60 or so people filed claims in cases that fell outside the statute of limitations for child abuse.
Investigators say the plaintiffs represent only a small fraction of the children brutalized by Reardon, a doctor who was respected enough in his day to have parents lend their children for the study he used as cover for the abuse.
Police have identified 250 victims by name, but hundreds of other children in the pornographic images never came forward. West Hartford Police Captain Donald Melanson estimates Reardon victimized at least 500 and possibly thousands.
"He had the perfect setup -during a time when people in positions such as doctors had absolute trust," Melanson said.
Police who interviewed the victims said many had struggled with broken relationships, substance-abuse problems, even suicide attempts. Detective Sergeant Frank Fallon said some described being abused routinely in small groups by Reardon.
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