New York City hospital says doctor abused children for decades
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A prominent research hospital in New York City has admitted sexual misconduct by one of its former doctors.
Rockefeller University Hospital acknowledged that the doctor, Reginald Archibald, sexually abused children over a period of decades.
Eyewitness News spoke exclusively with one of the victims, a man who did not want to be identified.
"I remember being examined by him," said the man, who did not want to be identified. "I remember him measuring me, and it says it in my medical records the size of my penis."
He is a victim of sexual abuse who thought he was alone, until getting a letter recently that confirmed he wasn't. The letter was from Rockefeller University Hospital, where he was a patient as a child.
The letter from the hospital said, in part, "We have come to learn that Dr. Reginald Archibald, who retired from the Rockefeller University Hospital in 1982, engaged in certain inappropriate conduct during patient examinations."
But the hospital acknowledges they knew about sexual misconduct by Dr. Archibald for decades, and former patients say as many as 1,000 letters were sent out.
Read the full statement from Rockefeller University Hospital
There were at least two allegations made by patients in the 1990s, and several more came to light in 2004 before additional cases just this year.
Still, the hospital waited until now to contact all previous patients of the doctor to find out the full scope of the abuse.
After the abuse, everything fell apart for the victim with whom Eyewitness News spoke.
"I'm not only failing school, I'm fighting with other students," he said. "I'm cutting class. I'm smoking. I'm smoking pot. And it specifically says in there that I've lost the trust of my parents."
The hospital said they are now offering counseling to Dr. Archibald's victims.
Rockefeller University is one of the world's preeminent medical research universities. The hospital has only 40 beds and is open only to participants in clinical studies. In Dr. Archibald's case, he was studying childhood growth. His victims are believed to be those who were participating in his research.
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