Oregon Doctor Sentenced to 23 Years After Pleading Guilty to Rape and Sex Abuse
Bonnie King Salem-News.com
Dr. Frederick Field is off to prison for the
ultimate breach of trust~ what's next for his victims?
Dr Fred Field pleaded guilty to rape and
sex abuse in Wasco County court on Sept 18.
Still Photography by Willie Hayward, Salem-News.com |
(THE DALLES,
Ore) - Dr. Frederick Field now will be known as one of Oregon’s most notorious
serial sex offenders. The bad doctor pleaded guilty to 11 counts of first-degree
sex abuse and one count of first-degree rape in the Wasco County court last
Tuesday.
This was a change in plea which came after lengthy
negotiations between the district attorney and Field's lawyer. 47-year old
Frederick George Field was sentenced to 276 months in prison (23 years), based
on Measure 11 guidelines.
For five years, Field, an anesthesiologist, worked at the main hospital in
The Dalles, the Mid-Columbia Medical Center (MCMC).
Frederick George Field obtained his license to
practice in Oregon in 2005. He earned his medical degree at Tulane University
School of Medicine in 1998 and completed residency training in internal medicine and anesthesiology at Brown
University in Providence, R.I.; he is currently married, and has two young
children.
He was first indicted by a Wasco County grand jury
and accused of abusing two patients. He was arrested July 28, 2011, and charged
in August with rape and felony sexual abuse. He was held on more than $1 million
bond.
Field's mugshot taken within hours of
court.
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The allegations began with two victims but quickly
became more. Soon he was charged with sexually abusing seven women; six patients
and one hospital employee, revealing that they were incapacitated by drugs when
they were assaulted.
Then, the Oregon Medical Board suspended his license
while the investigation was underway. The OMB had no record of disciplinary
actions or malpractice claims against Dr Field prior to these sexual assault
charges.
Whistleblower Victims Speak Out
A 66-year-old woman filed suit against Mid-Columbia
Medical Center in August 2011 shedding more light on the sordid situation. She
had undergone surgery in February 2011, conducted by Field.
"As soon as she was able to speak, she told her
surgeon that Dr. Field had forced her to touch him sexually during the surgery.
Dr. Field denied the allegations, and said that [she] had been hallucinating
under the effect of the anesthetic," stated Kafoury & McDougal, the Portland
law firm that represented the woman, on their website.
The woman said she took her concerns to hospital
management but they did not take her seriously. Hospital officials disagree.
They say when the patient first told them about the sexual abuse in May, they
immediately notified The Dalles Police Department.
Richard Baltus, spokesman for Mid-Columbia Medical
Center, said the hospital "took every precaution to ensure Dr. Field was not in
a position to compromise patient safety and was never in a room alone with a
patient."
The last known case of sexual abuse took place on
July 24, over two months later. It wasn’t against a patient this time; instead
he abused a female employee.
And what of the Oregon Health Authority? Were they
apprised of the imminent risk to patients? The OHA is "the organization at the
forefront of lowering and containing costs, improving quality and increasing
access to health care in order to improve the lifelong health of Oregonians".
This case is an example of when their guidance would have been especially
helpful to patients in Oregon.
MCMC reportedly reaps $100 million a year from their
vast healthcare empire; that is a lot to protect, but at what cost?
By sentencing last Tuesday, twelve victims had come
forward, including co-workers, who said they were abused by Field between 2007 –
2011, and joined the cause to find justice.
According to reports, some of the victims said they
awoke as Field touched them, and some had convinced themselves that their
memories were dreams until the doctor was arrested.
Wasco County Chief Deputy District Attorney Leslie
Wolf said the victims who were sedated by Field for surgery or other medical
problems and then touched inappropriately. Six of Field's accusers say he
touched their genitals or breasts, or forced them to touch his genitals, and one
woman said Field forced her to have sexual intercourse in 2008.
In the cases involving co-workers, Field “asked if
they wanted medication to ease a headache or some other ailment. He then took
them into a room and administered medication that incapacitated them before they
were abused,” Prosecutors said.
There are several drugs that would have been
accessible to Field. Versed, a common drug by Anesthesiologists,
is well known to induce amnesia, especially retrograde amnesia. It's very useful
especially for painful procedures as the patient might be conscious at the time
of the pain but not remember anything later.
As an Anesthesiologist, Fred Field had not only
access to this drug and others, but also the expertise to use it to his
advantage.
Who Knew and When? Adding Insult to Injury.
All of the crimes did not take place at the hospital
itself. The admitted rapist allegedly took at least one of his victims to a
house owned by the hospital foundation, used by visiting doctors and those on
call. In Afghanistan, the Taliban and Russian soldiers were well known to use
“rape rooms” as part of their torture of the locals. Being drugged and
trapped with a rapist behind closed doors in The Dalles, Oregon, is no less
torture.
809 Union Street in The Dalles is leased to MCMC for
use as a "call house", and may be an integral piece of the puzzle as the
investigation into the possible cover up of Dr Field's crimes continues.
The one rape victim in this case so far was a nurse
working at Mid-Columbia Medical Center and lived about an hour away. She thought
their anesthesiologist and her co-worker, Dr Field, was a trusted friend when
she asked him for something to relieve her of a bad headache. When she "came
to", Fred Field was on top of her - raping her on a couch in that MCMC
leased call house on Union Street. Oregon State police DNA tested semen found on
the MCMC "rape house" couch and it was identified as that of Dr. Field, likely
contributing to his change in plea to guilty.
Field did not speak in court except to admit guilt
to the charges against him at the hearing presided over by Judge Paul Crowley,
but several of his victims did. Field stared forward, not reacting to their
pleas for his remorse, not showing any sign that he even cared what they had to
say.
"How could this happen?” One victim asked. “How
could this man damage other women's lives ... how is it possible that this was
allowed to happen?"
“You will be as powerless as I was once,” another
victim said. “Your crimes can only have come from an unimaginable void within
the moral fabric that exists within the rest of us; you have none. I hope I can
someday find a way to forgive you; not because you deserve it but because I
do.”
“What was really disappointing is that the doctor
made no statement, and he made no effort to acknowledge what he had done to the
women that had not been the subject of indictments and it shows what an
unregenerate man he is,” said attorney Greg Kafoury.
“I think they were all offended at the fact that the
man wouldn’t speak, they wanted to hear something.
“He is a coward. He wouldn’t stand up and say it, he
talked through his lawyer. If there was ever a time for someone to stand up and
say they were sorry, and to acknowledge what they had done, this would be the
time to do it,” Kafoury said.
Whether or not there are additional victims remains
to be seen. Kafoury is convinced there are more.
“I think there are women out there who have a story
to tell, who are reluctant to step forward. If there are women who believe he
should serve even longer, and they know what he did to them, they need to search
their consciences and find the courage to do what these other women have
done."
The civil trial is expected to begin in about a
year, and Kafoury’s law team is seeking $14 million or more in damages from the
hospital for pain and suffering on behalf of his clients.
Hospital administrators were allegedly advised of
Field’s criminal behavior in 2008, but failed to act. The next three years put
many other women in the position of being victimized by Dr Field. The Oregon
Medical Board waited until after his arrest to take action. Why?
Dr Field had access to unconscious female patients
every single day. It is possible that in the years he was at MCMC he committed
far more sex abuse crimes than the 20 or so times described in this case.
In this rural Oregon town of 16,000 on the banks of
the Columbia River famous for its fruits, wheat and wines, people in the know
have been afraid to speak up, even when their wives, mothers or even
grandmothers are being raped and sexually assaulted. Intimidation comes in many
forms, and it must be removed as a factor once and for all in Wasco County.
Motherly Love
Joan Field, the convicted doctor’s mother, told
Salem-News.com that her son “didn’t rape anyone”, and that the charges have more
to do with money than truth.
“It was a consensual affair, it occurred twice in
two different places; once in her apartment and once in the hospital. It was a
consensual affair, it was not rape. She is a very good actress.”
When asked if she had anything to say to the many
women victimized by her son, Ms Field shook her head and said, “I don’t think
there were many. I think there was only one, I think it was Allen. I think all
the rest were...otherwise.”
“There is a lot of money involved here, and I think
a lot of people are in it for the money. I’m sorry.”
She also does not believe it was possible for him to
get a fair trial in Wasco County. According to Joan Field, a survey was
conducted to determine what percentage of citizens in the county were aware of
the proceedings against Frederick Field. Of the 1000 people polled, 80% were
aware of the case, and 65% believed him to be guilty before the trial.
Frederick Field did not receive a change of venue to
another county based on that information.
Complicity Can Be Criminal
By most accounts, The Dalles is an unpretentious,
unsuspecting, “salt of the earth” rural community. The people that call The
Dalles “home” have a good quality of life. They trust their friends, neighbors,
and especially their doctors. In many cases, for generations.
This case is a serious affront to all area citizens
that work to keep their city an honorable place to live. That may be the reason
that this story has been kept strangely quiet.
A Letter to the Editor signed by several The Dalles
community members expressed outrage at the lack of public outcry. “Our community
has its own Penn State scandal going on,” they wrote.
“Why is the Hospital Board sitting on its hands?
This scandal is a blight on our whole community. It makes us all look bad. Let’s
put our support behind the victims, not those who allegedly let it happen.
“It seems to us that having the CEO of the hospital
being a member of the board is an exercise in futility if the board’s true
purpose is to police the hospital. How can they possibly be objective?” The
letter asked.
Greg Kafoury said, “The hospital is in a bunker. All
of its administrators are in a bunker, they talk through counsel and we’re going
to pry the lid off the bunker and we’re going to make them all talk under oath
and produce every document. We promised today, to this community, that they
would have a trial and those who knew about what this man was doing, all those
who concealed it will have to face the community under oath in a courtroom.”
Duane Francis, chief executive officer for the
medical center, did not attend the court proceedings and he opted to have a
spokesperson answer our questions. Richard Baltus, Director of Public Relations
and Marketing spoke to Salem-News.com via telephone exclusively after the
sentencing.
He said, “In general we are pleased that the
criminal proceedings against Dr Field have come to an end with the result
appropriate for the despicable nature of his crimes, but also spares his victims
from having to relive them in court.”
When asked if he expected more victims to come
forward, he said, “We certainly have not heard of any. It appears to be the end
of it, from the criminal standpoint.”
I asked him what he would say to the women of Wasco
County to give them the confidence that the Medical Center is a safe place to
be, and is watching out for their best interests?
“We have reviewed every single one of our policies
in regard to patient safety to ensure that we are continuing to provide the
safest possible environment for our patients and I’m confident that we are.
“This was a single individual determined to do harm,
and certainly our hearts go out to his victims but his despicable actions don’t
define our organization or what we’re all about. We are confident we’ve always
had the right safety measures in place; he was just determined to do harm. (taps
table) Sometimes there’s not anything you can do about that.”
“Have all the cases that Dr Field has worked on been
reviewed?” I asked.
“No. I can’t answer that,” Baltus said.
Regarding the timeliness of the hospital’s report to
the police when they knew of the accusations, Baltus said, “As soon as we had
the information we could to go to the police, we immediately went to the police
with that. I really can’t elaborate on that, but it’s certainly not a case of us
ignoring accusations, ever.
“We have been providing care at the main hospital
since 1959, and this is the first incident of anything like this ever
happening.
“MCMC is not some giant, faceless corporation. It’s
the largest employer in town, and as such it’s a microcosm of this community so
we’re confident when people put a face on MCMC it’s the face of their neighbor
or friend or family member, it’s not going to be the face of Fred Field.”
Oregon State Prison for Twenty-Three Years
Field will not be eligible for early parole, and
when he leaves prison in over twenty years, he will have to register as a sex
offender according to Wasco County Chief Deputy District Attorney Leslie
Wolf.
She said that Field will also pay fines and
assessments, and restitution of $5,308.02 for counseling expenses for five of
his victims. A request to give Field's posted bail money to victims was denied
by the judge.
Field is led away in
cuffs.
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"He's on Measure 11 time, so he's not eligible for
any early release programs. He will have to register as a sex offender, and will
have no contact with any of the victims and their families."
“I think the guilty plea was important to the
victims to hear that he was accepting accountability and responsibility for the
acts that he did to them.
“This is the time this community needs to start
healing. Fred Field is the one that did these actions to these women, these
women were completely vulnerable, they did nothing wrong. We ask the community
to remember that, and to start respecting and having compassion for them and
their families at this time,” Wolf said.
There are many more victims who may be suffering in
silence and some whose memory of the abuse may have been wiped out by the sexual
predator, using his knowledge, expertise and socioeconomic status to prey on his
victims.
The victims of these crimes are not limited to those
who physically had hands put upon them, as these events have changed the lives
of everyone involved forever, including the families, friends and coworkers of
every victim. The impact is like a pebble in a pond, the ripples go on and
on.
When all was said and done, Stephen Houze, the
Portland attorney representing Field made a plea to the victims, community
members, the judge and prosecutor.
“He’s a human being; he’s not a monster,” said
Houze, in court. “He’s a man who has contributed significantly in his life to
the welfare of others. He is a husband and the loving father of two children
with elderly parents who will live out their lives before he is free. I think
it’s important to bear in mind that criminal cases, criminal justice, involves a
number of victims.”
Dr Frederick Field put his hands behind his back and
the Wasco County Deputies placed him in handcuffs and led him from the
courtroom. He was then transported to the regional jail and then he was readied
to go to prison for the next two decades.
Stay tuned to Salem-News.com as this investigation
continues. The Dr Fred Field story is not nearly finished.
WATCH THE VIDEO NEWS REPORT BELOW:
Video produced by Bonnie King, Salem-News.com
Photography by Sean King
Field Producer Austin King
Still Photographer Willie Hayward
Bonnie King has been
with Salem-News.com since August '04, when she became Publisher. Bonnie has
served in a number of positions in the broadcast industry; TV Production Manager
at KVWB (Las Vegas WB) and Producer/Director for the TV series "Hot Wheels in
Las Vegas", posts as TV Promotion Director for KYMA (NBC), and KFBT (Ind.),
Asst. Marketing Director (SUPERSHOPPER MAGAZINE), Director/Co-Host (Coast
Entertainment Show), Radio Promotion Director (KBCH/KCRF), and Newspapers In
Education/Circulation Sales Manager (STATESMAN JOURNAL NEWSPAPER). Bonnie has a
depth of understanding that reaches further than just behind the scenes, and
that thoroughness is demonstrated in the perseverance to correctly present each
story with the wit and wisdom necessary to compel and captivate viewers.--
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