麻豆传媒

A grand jury indicted a former medical director of Virginia's Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents for felony sex crimes related to abuse that happened at the facility in 2017 and 2018, according to court records that were unsealed earlier this month.

Daniel N. Davidow, MD, 70, of Richmond, was charged with two felony counts of aggravated sexual battery and two felony counts of object sexual penetration.

The indictment also described the timeline of the alleged crimes that took place at the hospital, which provides healthcare to children and adolescents with chronic illnesses, neurobehavioral issues, or brain injuries, with one victim allegedly sexually abused between March 1 and April 30, 2018, and the other between Oct. 16 and Dec. 1, 2017. Both victims were minors who suffered from "mental incapacity or physical helplessness," court records noted.

T. Scott Renick, the commonwealth's attorney in New Kent County, where the hospital is located, released a statement announcing that the indictments would be unsealed, and stating that his office would have no further comment on the case at this time.

Robert F. Donnelly, an attorney for Davidow, that his team and his client are "still learning the details and facts" of the charges, and declined to comment further.

Davidow has also been named in a civil lawsuit brought by more than three dozen former patients who accused him of sexual abuse. He has denied those allegations, according to the AP.

According to court records, Virginia State Police opened an investigation into the hospital's staff in 2017. The facility is also facing civil lawsuits that claim it was operating without proper licensing, the AP reported.

An attorney representing the former patients, Kevin Biniazan, told the AP that the grand jury indictments are connected to his clients' allegations. He said that these charges were "a long time coming" and he hopes that it provides "a sense of validation" for his clients and the public to know that Davidow is being criminally charged.

The former patients claim they were "repeatedly sexually abused and physically abused by fellow residents and staff members and their assailants, including Davidow," according to the court records. They also claim that staff at the facility were told that they should "never call 911."

The former patients also alleged that several of them reported this sexual abuse to "nurses, staff, therapists, counselors, psychiatrists, and other agents, employees, and servants of the Defendants, from 1996 until Davidow was placed on administrative leave in February 2020."

In addition to the physical and sexual abuse, the former patients also claim that the facilities were not properly maintained and that the hospital "failed to provide a safe, sanitary, or humane environment or treatment with dignity and respect," according to the civil suit.

A status hearing for the case has been scheduled for Jan. 30, 2023.

Comment