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Former Columbia University gynecologist Robert Hadden sentenced to 20 years in prison
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Brittany Kriegstein
Published Jul 24, 2023
Modified Jul 26, 2023
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By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Jul 24, 2023
Modified Jul 26, 2023
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Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized Monday's proceedings. A judge only recommended a sentence on Monday. The recommended sentence was officially handed down on Tuesday. The story has also been updated with the correct spelling of Dian Saderup Monson's name.
A Manhattan federal court judge formally sentenced former Columbia University gynecologist Robert Hadden on Tuesday to 20 years in prison and a lifetime of post-release supervision, for four counts of encouraging patients to cross state lines so he could sexually assault them at their appointments.
Hadden, 64, was convicted of abusing those four patients in January, in incidents that occurred between 1993 and 2012.
“There is much I’d like to say,” the disgraced doctor stood up and said to the courtroom before the formal sentence was read out, adding that he was limited by his legal counsel to brief remarks. “I hope the court will not see my brevity as a lack of sincerity. I’m very sorry for all the pain I have caused.”
Hadden, who was then overcome by sobs, sat down and took a few moments to collect himself.
Judge Richard Berman explained how he arrived at his sentencing decision as part of a lengthy discussion about the case on Monday and Tuesday**,** during which he revisited harrowing testimonies from the women about the sexual abuse they endured. In many of the instances, Hadden abused the women while they were pregnant, conducting invasive, sexually charged exams that served no medical purpose and left the women shaken and horrified.
Each count carried a maximum sentence of 20 years. Berman ruled that Hadden will serve the sentences concurrently, rather than consecutively.
The judge repeatedly called the case “unprecedented,” due in part to the number of victims that Hadden abused, the decades during which the abuse continued, and the way Hadden was able to deceive those around him and keep his position as a respected Columbia doctor.
“This case is like no other in my experience,” Berman told the packed courtroom on Monday, which included several of Hadden’s victims. “It is unquestionably outside the heartland of the sentencing guideline range, and will be treated as such.”
In addition to the four women at the center of the federal case, Berman said that 245 women in total had come forward as victims, resulting in settlements totaling over $230 million from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in 2021 and 2022. Among the victims who came forward was Evelyn Yang, the wife of past presidential and mayoral candidate Andrew Yang.
In 2016, Hadden pleaded guilty in state court to abusing two women as part of a deal with the Manhattan district attorney’s office. He lost his license, but avoided prison at the time.
Former patient Marissa Hoechstetter was among the first survivors to go public about her abuse and led a relentless effort to see him prosecuted after former Manhattan DA Cy Vance let Hadden off without prison time. She said she wishes the institutions where Hadden worked would inform more of his patients about his abuse**.**
“We know that he saw 6,000 to 8,000 people during his 20-year career at Columbia, and they know that, they know the names of those people, and they could make a good faith effort. They refuse to do that. So this sentence today is important, but it is one part of a huge effort by many many people, me and many others, to get some accountability,” she said outside the courthouse on Tuesday.
As he explained how he reached his decision, Berman cited a number of influential factors, including sentencing recommendations by the probation department and the government.
Berman also discussed the results of a psychosexual evaluation that Hadden had undergone as the case unfolded, in which two doctors concluded that Hadden’s “deviant sexual attraction paraphilia” and “voyeuristic disorder” stemmed from his own childhood sexual abuse at the hands of family members.
The judge said Hadden was assaulted as a 10-year-old by his older brother, who was then 13, while his father was working and his alcoholic mother was sleeping or absent. Later, Hadden and his brother would watch their sisters undress through holes in their bedroom wall, and would participate in sexual acts together.
Hadden’s siblings later struggled with alcohol abuse and drug addictions, the judge said.
During Berman’s remarks on Monday, Hadden fidgeted in his olive-green prison shirt, at times taking notes or looking around the room. But when the judge mentioned Hadden’s upbringing and pointed out his disabled son and wheelchair-bound wife sitting in the courtroom, the former doctor became visibly emotional and rested his head in his clasped hands.
Berman explained that a psychiatrist and a therapist who had treated Hadden for years never mentioned his “long-standing deviant sexual interests,” and had stated in past letters to the court that he posed no danger to society.
“The defendant was effectively able to hide, deceive and keep secret his true self from medical examiners,” Berman said.
Laurie Kanyok, pictured left, and Amy Yoney embrace outside federal court in Manhattan after the sentencing for gynecologist Robert Hadden.
Brittany Krigstein
Hadden stood with his head bowed during the formal reading of the sentence on Tuesday, which brought about tears and hugs from many of the victims seated in the courtroom. Hadden’s wife sobbed in the front row, holding her hands up to her eyes. Their son was also present but did not visibly react.
Outside the courthouse, 10 of Hadden’s former patients– all survivors of his abuse– reacted to the sentencing with a mix of relief and disgust at Columbia University and New York Presbyterian for keeping Hadden employed despite knowledge of his actions.
Former patient Dian Saderup Monson spoke about the letter she wrote to Harold Fox, then-acting chairman of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center’s obstetrics and gynecology department in 1994, after an exam by Hadden that left her feeling “disturbed.”
“I described in great detail the exam he gave me, and I said ‘I can't imagine any other doctor I’ve ever been to performing an exam like this,’” she recounted.
Fox responded in a letter that Manson saved, thanking her for getting in touch and saying he’d look into the incident after a vacation**.**
“He never got back to me,” she said. “I tried to approach all the appropriate people.”
Monson’s letter was key evidence in the 2020 class-action lawsuit against Columbia, which alleged the institution knew about the abuse and covered it up. Hadden remained employed for another 18 years, and Monson heard nothing further about it until watching Evelyn Yang talking about her experiences with him on the news in 2020.
“It feels really belated. I saw him 30 years ago this fall, and to think he’s finally going to prison is amazing, it’s amazing. I’m relieved and grateful for the judge,” Manson said.
Other survivors outside the courthouse Tuesday said they’d wished they’d heard from Columbia about the case so that they could have come forward with their own stories sooner.
Other testimony that had emerged during the case came from two medical professionals, a retired Columbia nurse and a medical assistant, who said they’d seen Hadden abuse patients multiple times during the years they worked with him.
Laurie Kanyok, who called 911 on Hadden after he abused her during a 2012 appointment, said she is relieved this decadelong journey has come to an end.
“I’m hoping that people hear this, and know, especially women, that they have a voice and they can and should say something, always,” she said.
Attorneys for Hadden could not be immediately reached for comment.
In an unattributed statement, Columbia University Irving Medical Center said it was "profoundly sorry" for the pain Hadden caused and commended the women who came forward.
This story has been updated to reflect a statement issued by Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
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Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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