HINGHAM, Mass. — Twenty-two additional victims have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against a former Massachusetts pediatrician who is already charged with assaulting two girls during their annual checkups, prosecutors said.
Dr. Richard A. Kauff, who voluntarily agreed last week to turn in his license and not practice medicine for the foreseeable future, was arraigned Monday in Hingham District Court on charges including 12 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years old and four counts of rape of a child under 16 years old with force.
A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf and a judge set bail at $50,000. Kauff posted bail and was released. He will be back in court in January for a probable cause hearing.
The allegations came to light when one of the two women posted to a Facebook group called South Shore Mamas, asking if it was normal for a doctor to inappropriately touch a female’s genitalia during physicals.
Another woman, who did not know the original poster, replied saying she had similar experiences, according to the police report. When the two women exchanged private messages, they realized they were both former patients of Kauff.
Both women told police the alleged acts occurred when Kauff would tell them to lie down on a medical table.
The woman who replied to the post then went to Norwell police, telling detectives that Kauff had inappropriately touched her private parts during her annual exams a total of 13 times from the time she was seven until she was 18 or 19 years old. According to court documents, the woman told detectives that her parents were sometimes in the room during the exams but Kauff would position his body so that their view was obscured.
Four days later, the woman who authored the original post also went to Norwell police, informing them that Kauff would allegedly abuse her during her annual checkups. According to the police report, she also told investigators that Kauff would position his body in a manner to obscure her parent’s view.
Both women told investigators they believed the alleged acts to be a routine part of the medical exam. The woman who first posted on Facebook told officers that she was only made aware when she disclosed to her therapist how uncomfortable Kauff made her during her visits. According to the police report, when the woman shared details, the therapist informed her she needed to contact the police.
According to the police report, Norwell detectives contacted a pediatric sexual assault nurse practitioner, who informed them “an internal pelvic exam was not a normal or routine exam, nor should it be done at a routine pediatric exam.” The nurse encouraged the detectives to contact the Board of Registration in Medicine to file a complaint and noted the alleged victims could follow suit.
Twenty women and two juveniles have since come forward, claiming they too were sexually assaulted by Kauff, prosecutors said during his arraignment.
“We anticipate dozens of more similar-type of charges,” a prosecutor told the court.
Kauff retired from South Shore Medical Center in 2022, according to an archived blog post on South Shore Health’s website.
He is due back in court on Jan. 11.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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