What a nightmare - it appears this guy has been molesting boys for
forty years. Another case where civil suit settlements allowed him to
stay under the radar.


Bo Raxo

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/06/MOLEST.TMP

A highly regarded child psychiatrist from San Mateo who once headed
the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry was arrested
Thursday on 14 felony counts of child molestation, police said.

Dr. William Ayres, 75, was arrested at his San Mateo home at about 6
p.m. following a four-year investigation into allegations he molested
boy patients dating back to the late 1960s.

"The real tragedy here is that parents entrusted their children to
this doctor for help and they were victimized while in his care," San
Mateo police Capt. Mike Callagy said following the arrest. "That's so
tragic."

For decades, the psychiatrist with the ruddy face and reddish beard
was a fixture in San Mateo County mental health and political
circles.

He served with San Mateo County District Attorney Jim Fox and
Supervisor Richard Gordon on the county's Children and Families First
Commission, and in 2002, he was honored by the county board of
supervisors with a lifetime achievement award for "his tireless effort
to improve the lives of children and adolescents."

During his long distinguished career as a local child psychiatrist, he
received patient referrals from the San Mateo County juvenile justice
system.

From 1993 to 1995, he served as president of the American Academy of

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the leading professional medical
association for child psychiatrists with more than 7,500 members
nationwide.

Callagy said the doctor did not resist arrest and was "very stoic"
when officers arrived at his home Thursday night.

Prosectutors Thursday filed 14 counts of lewd and lascivious acts with
a child under 14 years old against Ayres, Callagy said. He said the
charges involved multiple victims, but declined to give a specific
number.

Ayres is being held in San Mateo County jail on $1.5 million bail and
is expected to be arraigned today in a Redwood City courtroom.

The arrest follows years of accusations against the doctor -- dating
back to 1987 -- that raised red flags but never amounted to a criminal
case. It was only after San Mateo police received a complaint in 2002,
that authorities obtained a search warrant in March 2006 for Ayers'
medical records, police said.

The records produced a list of 800 names of former patients whose
contact with Ayres could fall within current statutes of limitations,
police said. Police interviewed the patients and identified alleged
victims that led to the current prosection, Callagy said.

Among some of the other accusations that are documented in public
records are the following:

-- At least five men -- none of them the alleged victims in the
criminal case -- claim in police reports, civil depositions and a
Child Protective Services report that Ayres molested them in their
youth.

-- One of those former patients sued Ayres in December 2003, accusing
the psychiatrist of masturbating him under the guise of a medical exam
on multiple occasions in the late 1970s when the patient was 13 years
old. The case was settled confidentially in 2005.

-- Police investigated at least two other molestation reports against
Ayres before the 2003 lawsuit, records and deposition transcripts
show. One was determined to be "unfounded" in 1987, and the alleged
victim in the other didn't cooperate with police, according to those
records and statements.

-- At least two other men came forward separately in 2005 saying Ayres
had also molested them as teens in the 1960s and 1970s, but the cases
could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had
expired, police reports show.

One of those former patients, whose name was redacted from the report,
told police he arrived early for an appointment one day and saw
another teenage boy emerge from Ayres' office.

"The victim said the look on the other boy's face was like, 'He's
going to do it to you too,' " the report read.

In the 2003 lawsuit, filed against Ayres and his medical group,
Peninsula Psychiatric Associates, attorneys for the former patient
accused the psychiatrist of exploiting his position of power and trust
to prey upon young boys who were patients.

The lawsuit contended the alleged victim, referred to in court
documents as James Doe, was not Ayres' first molest victim. The
lawsuit alleged "there were at least four others, and possibly more."

The two sides reached a confidential settlement in July 2005, after
which Ayres' attorney said the psychiatrist did not concede any
wrongdoing.

[...]