LOS ANGELES (CNS) - LAPD detectives have presented the Los Angeles County district attorney's office with nearly 30 cases for possible sex-crime charges against USC's former campus gynecologist, Dr. George Tyndall, it was reported today.
Capt. Billy Hayes, the head of LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division, said Thursday that the cases were the result of a sweeping criminal investigation of Tyndall, who treated thousands of women at USC's student health center during a nearly three-decade career, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Times revealed in May that Tyndall was accused repeatedly of misconduct by patients and staff but continued treating students until 2016. Following the newspaper's reporting, hundreds of women came forward, and investigators have traveled across the nation to interview about 220 former patients of Tyndall who have accused the physician of misconduct.
"This is the most victims for one perpetrator that I can recall in LAPD history,” said Hayes, who said the wide-ranging investigation is ongoing. ``We are working very closely with experienced prosecutors in sex crimes and medical issues.”
Tyndall has not been charged with a crime and in interviews this spring, the 71-year-old gynecologist maintained that his medical exams were always appropriate. His defense attorney, Leonard Levine, told The Times this week that his client did not violate the law.
"Dr. Tyndall takes all allegations seriously, but he continues to maintain that he engaged in no criminal conduct, and that his medical examinations were always within the standard of care for such examinations,” Levine said.
The lead prosecutor assigned from the district attorney's sex-crimes division has been accompanying LAPD detectives and has attended some initial interviews with former patients of Tyndall. Prosecutors have received the cases gradually from detectives, and Hayes said as many as 50 cases could reach prosecutors for consideration of criminal charges.
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