Columbia University Gynecologist Robert Hadden Sentenced to 20 Years for Sexually Assaulting Pregnant Patients

Pervert New York City gynecologist Robert Hadden was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal judge after sexually assaulting dozens of his patients for decades — including the wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang when she was seven months pregnant.

The 64-year-old doctor was convicted in January on sex trafficking charges of four counts of enticing victims to cross state lines for him to sexually assault them, the AP reported.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman heard testimony last month from eleven of Hadden’s victims during Hadden’s first sentencing hearing, the New York Post reported.  Since the 1980s, Hadden sexually assaulted his patients — some who were pregnant — during their gynecological appointments at prominent hospitals associated with Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian.

The Associated Press reported:

According to trial testimony, Hadden benefited from the prestige of the hospitals where he worked as he groomed his patients in a private office decorated with pictures of his children as he conversed with them about their personal lives.

But once he had isolated them after a chaperone or nurse left the treatment room, he fondled and probed them with gloveless fingers and sometimes orally.

The doctor from Englewood, New Jersey, sobbed after being sentenced on Tuesday. He faced up to 80 years in prison, but his defense lawyer argued he should only serve three years since he was previously convicted of his sexual abuse of a smaller number of women in 2016 in a state court. Hadden faced no jail time for his conviction, but he was required to register as a sex offender and was stripped of his medical license. 

His attorney Deirdre von Dornum said Hadden should receive credit for his rehabilitation. 

“Here you have somebody who has already lost everything, and you’re effectively giving him a life sentence,” von Dornum said.   

At least 245 victims of Hadden have come forward. Columbia Medical Center and New York Presbyterian reached a $165 million settlement with a portion of Hadden’s victims.