William French Anderson, shown in an undated file photograph, is the director of the Gene Therapy Laboratories at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles
Posted on 07/20/2006 7:45:16 AM PDT by BerlinStrausbaugh
A top American scientist dubbed "the father of gene therapy" is facing two decades in prison after been convicted of molesting a colleague's daughter.
William French Anderson, known to many in the competitive world of genetic research as "French", entered the annals of medicine in 1990 when he led a team that successfully implanted missing genes into the blood of a 3-year-old girl, enabling her recovery from a rare, hereditary disease.
But yesterday the 69-year-old was found guilty of four counts of abuse towards the 10-year-old daughter of a research scientist who worked in his laboratory at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, crimes he has spent the last two years vigorously denying.
In the early 1990s, Anderson was hailed as the author of a revolutionary strain of medicine that could fight cancer and hereditary conditions by splicing missing genes into white blood cells and injecting them into patients.
"Gene therapy", as it has became known, made Anderson, a crack pistol shot, amateur martial arts champion and law enforcement enthusiast, a runner-up to Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1995.
But in 2004 the geneticist, who has told journalists that he and his wife decided not to have children in order to focus on their careers, was accused by a the girl, who is now 19, of molesting her during taekwondo lessons at his home in San Marino, a wealthy suburb east of Los Angeles.
He was placed on leave from his post as director of the Gene Therapies Laboratories at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine to answer the charges, which were returned yesterday by a jury at Los Angeles Superior Court.
During the trial, prosecutors described "the dirty side" to Anderson's relationship with the young daughter of one his most gifted colleagues.
The court heard how the scientist, who met his wife, a distinguished surgeon, while studying at Cambridge, started giving the girl martial arts lessons at his house in 1997 when she was 10 and he was 60.
Over the following five years, Anderson was described as a constant presence at the girl's side, accompanying her to a martial arts competition in 1998 when they both won gold medals in their age categories and religiously watching her play football at school. He gave her a bicycle and a dress and let her invite friends to his house for slumber parties.
But in early 2004 their relationship abruptly ended after the girl told a school counsellor that she had been molested. During the trial, the court was played a recorded telephone conversation in which she accused Anderson of abusing her.
"I just did it. Something in me was just evil," he replied.
Anderson's lawyers argued that the scientist had misunderstood the conversation and that he had only ever been a mentor to the girl. The girl's mother was accused of using the allegations to advance her career. Barry Tarlow, defending Anderson, added that his client had poor social skills.
"Nothing about having a 176 IQ means you have good judgment," said Mr Tarlow during the trial.
Judge Michael E. Pastor yesterday jailed Anderson, who had been on bail, because of the threat he posed to the public. The judge also cited an e-mail written by Anderson threatening to commit suicide if he was found guilty. The note said that he owned guns and ammunition.
A psychiatric review will be carried out before Anderson is sentenced on November 17. He faces a maximum sentence of 22 years.
...or aren't capable of being inherently evil.
Yes..actually his son's real name is Eugene..but he was always picked on..so they cut it short..ironically..his daughter's name is Jean..go figure..
I am of the opinion that men should not consort too closely with women who are coming of age, unless they are the fathers.
And to be honest, I would even keep a tiny eye on fathers...
And this wasn't a warning sign to anyone?
I'd expect a young girl to have slumber parties at her own home, not at the home of her father's 60yo male friend who doesn't have children.
Where does it say she was 17?
Anderson's lawyers argued that the scientist had misunderstood the conversation
That's why they get the big bucks. They managed to say that with a straight face.
Well, 2004 was two years ago when the girl made the accusation and the girl is now 19. You don't have to have a high IQ to figure that out... or do you?
William French Anderson, M.D. (born 1936) is a U.S. geneticist and molecular biologist. He is considered a pioneer of gene therapy. He graduated from Harvard College in 1958 and from Harvard Medical School in 1963. In 1990, he was the first person ever to succeed in gene therapy of a 4-year-old girl suffering from SCID (a form of an immuno-deficiency disorder called "bubble boy disease").
Dr. Anderson is currently employed by University of Southern California. He is also the founding editor of the peer-reviewed journal Human Gene Therapy.
Anderson was jailed on July 30, 2004, on allegations of sexual abuse of a minor and convicted on July 19, 2006. He was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation prior to sentencing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_French_Anderson
William French Anderson, shown in an undated file photograph, is the director of the Gene Therapy Laboratories at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles
They don't specify the age or how long the molestation had been going on for.
It is unusual to charge him with molestation if she was 17 (in NY, that isn't even statutory rape).
If she was that old, it would be statutory, my guess is that he molested her when she was much younger then that, and it was ongoing.
Hey - Michael Jackson had children for sleepovers and he is innocent!
If she made the accusation at 17, or finally talked about it at 17, it could have been in referance to him molesting her when she was much younger.
I.E. He molester her at 13, she told no one, and finally opened up at 17 to her school.
Right, that would be sick. Perhaps this is the case, since he does sound rather "guilty about it".
Uh... If the accusation was "you raped me last week", then yeah. If it was "you've been molesting me since 1997", that's different.
This ought to be a bumper sticker or a tag line, something plastered on the walls of our institutions of "Higher Learning".
"Anderson now faces up to 22 years in state prison for being convicted of three counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 for the years 1999 through 2001 and one count of continuous sexual abuse. He was taken into custody and will undergo forensic testing by either a psychiatrist or a psychologist prior to his sentencing, which will take place Nov. 17. "
She was 12-14, Sicko!
Prosecutors claim he molested the girl over a five-year period beginning when she was about 9 or 10 years old.
He had apparently confessed to her in a secretly taped meeting. His defense was that, when he realized he was being falsely accused, he just panicked and said anything she wanted to hear, just to get out of there. Dunno, first thing I would have said is "Are you out of your friggin mind?". Anyways, the girl and her family apparently intend to sue for big money. Something the defense said was the reason she was making up the story. Hmmm..
Oh, how I can vouch for that!
Hear, hear.
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