Posted on 10/29/2002 5:53:43 AM PST by Lorenb420
A Scarborough pediatrician pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenage patient for three years but said he believed at the time he was the messiah.
"I believed I was the messiah and could cure cancer and AIDS ... I believed God was sending me messages through episodes of Star Trek," Dr. Jeffrey Seidman, 48, told an Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons disciplinary hearing.
Seidman said the start of his sexual relationship with the 15-year-old patient in 1991 -- her identity shielded by a publication ban -- coincided with his delusions.
Seidman said his mental health had deteriorated after he began taking Ritalin to treat adult attention deficit disorder in the spring of 1991.
'POISONED BY COPPER'
"I began to think human beings were being poisoned by copper (plumbing)," Seidman said. "I began to feel this was the cause of all health problems in western civilization."
Seidman also said he believed he could fly.
That fall, the relationship began with kissing in his office and led to visits to his home, baths and showers together and at least one incident of oral sex, the panel heard.
It ended in 1994.
Seidman had been treating the girl for bulimia and depression since 1989, when she was 12.
After the sexual relationship ended, he continued to treat her until 1998.
The patient, who broke down in tears while she read her victim impact statement, said she had been controlled and manipulated.
WAITED UNTIL HEARING
"I made this complaint three years ago. He could have admitted it and come forward," she said. "Instead he waited until this hearing began."
Seidman's lawyer, David Little, is asking the college to forgo the permanent revocation of the doctor's licence because of Seidman's mental state at the time.
Wait 'til he finds out that Art Bell is retiring.
Hmm...Most sane people would consider that a RED ALERT!
Heck, Gene Roddenberry had been married for 27 years and already had two children when he began doing Star Trek, and that didn't stop him from having affairs with both Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel) and Nicelle Nichols (Uhura) during the production of the original series. And watta surprise! In virtually every episode of the original series, and TNG, you have Capt. Kirk, Cmdr. Riker, et al, behaving like they were Fred Garvin: Male Prostitute.
I happen to believe the doctor's assertion, that he was getting messages through Star Trek. I just think he misunderstood who was sending them.
Ahhh...so she was on an HMO.
--Boris
I don't know if I should ask this, but I'm curious. Does your posting name have some relationship to your occupation?
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