Grand jury indicts former Massachusetts pediatrician accused of sexually assaulting 15 patients

BROCKTON, Mass. — A retired pediatrician from Norwell has been indicted on charges that he sexually assaulted 15 children who were his patients at South Shore Medical Center over a span of more than two decades.

Richard A. Kauff, 68, faces nine counts of rape of a child with force and eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said in a statement.

A Plymouth County grand jury indicted Kauff on the charges on Friday. Cruz said the grand jury returned 17 indictments for 15 different victims spanning 23 years, after several months of investigation.

Kauff is out on $50,000 cash bail out of Hingham District Court, on conditions that he stay away and have no contact with the victims or South Shore Medical Center facilities in Norwell and Kingston, Cruz said.

Prosecutors have also asked that Kauff have no unsupervised contact with children under 16, surrender his passport, remain in Massachusetts, and relinquish his medical license.

Kauff voluntarily agreed in November to turn in his medical license and not practice medicine.

Kauff worked as a pediatrician since 1983, and most recently with South Shore Medical Center in Norwell, Cruz said. He saw patients in South Shore Medical offices in both Kingston and Norwell until retiring in 2022.

On Oct. 4, 2023, an anonymous person posted to local Facebook group that they believed they were sexually assaulted during an annual checkup. Others replied to the Facebook post and urged the victim to report the incident to Norwell Police.

The next day, another victim reported to Norwell Police a similar incident. Both victims alleged the perpetrator was Kauff, Cruz said.

After Norwell Police sought charges against Kauff in Hingham District Court, more than three dozen people came forward to report similar experiences with Kauff, Cruz said.

An extensive grand jury investigation followed to identify additional alleged victims and the viability of prosecution on charges based on the analysis of statute of limitations and other legal issues.

Kauff will be arraigned on the charges in Superior Court at a later date.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group