After allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, a grand jury decided not indict the local doctor. Now, the Oregon attorney general is being requested by victims.
WEST LINN, Ore. — Warning: This article may trigger some readers.
The grand jury’s refusal to charge criminal charges against women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by a local doctor frustrates the victims.
KGW spoke to Lisa Pratt and Katie Medley. They believed in the criminal justice process.
But now they said they’re disappointed and angry about the grand jury’s decision not to indict former doctor, David Farley They practiced for over a decade in West Linn.
“I just couldn’t quite shake the feeling of something feeling very off,” said Pratt.
It was the beginning of her long-running nightmare.
“He was a Harvard medical school graduate and a member of our church and beloved by so many,” said Pratt.
Pratt, along with other girls and women, accuse Farley of sexual abuse. Pratt stated that she was abused between 2015-2018.
After allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, a grand jury in Clackamas County decided not to indict Farley.
“This is why women don’t go to police. This is why people don’t report, because they’re not taken seriously,” said Pratt.
According to the The, a separate investigation was conducted in 2019 that focused on the improper pelvic examinations of minors and the doctor taking photographs of children’s genitals. Oregonian.
This led to the Oregon Medical Board stripping Farley of his medical license in 2020 Dishonorable or unprofessional conduct, and gross negligence. Farley, according to the Oregonian, has since left the state.
Pratt recalls being nearly nine months pregnant when she wanted a procedure called the membrane sweep to induce labor. Farley informed her that he was not in the office but that she could visit his home.
“When I look back, of course it sounds crazy. But I trusted him. Pratt recalls that Pratt was accompanied by his wife to their bedroom. He laid a towel on the mattress and walked out the door. He returned home alone and closed the door. He quickly swept my membranes. It didn’t stop and I recall lying there wondering, “What’s the matter?” then I yelled ‘ouch’ really loud and he jumped, and he started fumbling over his words.”
Later, she said that the doctor raised concerns about breast milk production at a follow-up two-week visit for the newborn child.
“He stuck his hand down my shirt and started to fondle and squeeze my breast. I just remember thinking, ‘this is really weird’ I’ve never ever had somebody, a doctor do that, even a lactation consultant after delivery, touch my breasts without consent,” Pratt said.
Pratt is a mother to four children and has a background as a nurse. She started talking to friends as well community members to get their stories.
“We’re best friends and so in 2020 she asked me if I had ever had a strange experience with Dr. Farley,” said Medley.
Medley is as furious as Pratt over the absence of criminal charges.
“We knew him through the Mormon church and so we also trusted him as an ecclesiastical leader,” Medley said.
Pratt and she both said that their faith in the church is now shaken. Medley claimed that Farley placed his ungloved hands inside her during a pap test.
“[It] He said that it didn’t feel like a medical examination and that everything felt so good. Then he took his hand out and fondled my genitals and tried to get me to have some kind of a corrective procedure on my labia that he thought that I needed, and the whole time touching me with his ungloved hand,” recounted Medley.
“I felt a lot of shame. I left that appointment in tears.”
Medley and Pratt claimed that only 20-30 women were able to testify in front of the grand jury, but they stated that about 200 women and girls had made allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct.
“Over 200 women can come forward and it’s still not enough and that really needs to change,” said Pratt.
John Wentworth, Clackamas County District attorney, said that his office had only a little over 100 reports.
He stated that he understood the frustration and anger caused by the grand jury’s decision. He stressed that the grand jury was not his office or the prosecutors. It was a grand jury that spent four months reviewing the case and calling dozens of witnesses.
Wentworth explained that the case was treated as any other in Clackamas county.
But Medley and Pratt feel the DA’s office dropped the ball and didn’t bring all the evidence forward to the grand jury.
Wentworth stated that the attorneys for women who claim they were subject to sexual abuse didn’t provide any additional victim information.
“The bar in a criminal proceeding is always proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s a very high bar. It’s meant to be high,” said Wentworth.
He claimed that he has dedicated his life to the protection of victims of violence and sexual assault.
“But at the end of the day, I also have a commitment and an ethical duty to only present to the grand jury evidence that would otherwise be admissible at trial. The law requires me to do that,” Wentworth said.
Wentworth claimed that anger has been directed at his office by prosecutors.
“I understand when things don’t go as folks hope they will, that there’s going to be anger. It has been misdirected, unfortunately, right now. It is disheartening to see that this office is so committed to helping victims such as these. It is hard to see. But I also understand it and will carry on and I hope they do as well,” he said.
Medley and Pratt feel stressed out by the decision to not indict. They have their sights set on the Department of Justice.
“I’m a mother of four and I have to constantly be fighting for this and also try and be present and there for my children and give them a normal life and be a happy mom. When some days all I want to do is curl up in my bed and cry,” said Pratt.
“I don’t know how much harder we have to fight but I will. I’ll keep doing it because I believe every single one of us deserves justice.”
“I’m not going to be quiet about it anymore and none of us are,” said Medley.
Wentworth states that Farley was a physician and consented for medical procedures, making it harder to prosecute criminally.
Pratt & Medley aren’t satisfied with that reasoning. They also have an a civil case against FarleyThey stated that criminal charges and a conviction would protect other women and girls.
Medley stated that the civil suit is aimed at holding those responsible for what happened, even if they were aware of it.
Pratt as well as Medley encourage other victims to come forward.
KGW called Farley’s number but has not heard back.
from Salem – Salem Local News https://bit.ly/3LDthgt
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