A Rhode Island pediatrician has been charged with molesting a seven-year-old girl and has surrendered his medical license.
Dr David S. Healey, 51, from Barringon, is being held without bail after the alleged attack on the girl who was not a patient but was known to him.
The doctor, who practiced as a pediatrician in Worcester, Massachusetts since 2024 and North Providence, Rhode Island since 2020, gave up both his medical licenses last week.
The little girl did not tell her parents about the alleged abuse right away, but her mother said she noticed her daughter ‘acting strangely’ and told the police later that her daughter had allegedly disclosed to a therapist that she was being abused.
Healey was charged with first-degree child molestation, a crime that carries a penalty of 25 years to life in prison, though his sentence is not yet known. He was set to return to court today.
Dr David S. Healey, 51, of Barringon, Rhode Island is being held without bail after it came to light that a young girl of seven had been sexually abused for an undisclosed amount of time
Dr Healey, of Barrington, Rhode Island, was ordered to stay away from all children when he was arrested last week.
Rhode Island Department of Health spokesman Joseph Wendelken said that Healey ‘is not practicing at this time. The matter is under review with our investigatory and licensing teams.’
The investigation into him began in January when the little girl’s mother noticed her unusual behavior.
She eventually admitted that ‘something was going on’ and pointed to her private area.
According to an affidavit, the mother took her daughter to a hospital where doctors regularly treat sexual abuse victims, followed by the Aubin Child Protection Center.
It was there that she allegedly disclosed the abuse to a psychotherapist, but it’s not clear for how long the alleged abuse occurred.
The arrest warrant went out on March 14, and Healey was arrested a day later.
It was initially set for second-degree child molestation but was upgraded to first-degree when he was arraigned last week.
Healey, meanwhile, had reportedly admitted to molesting the little girls to a psychiatrist and a nurse ‘numerous times.’
The latest scandal out of Rhode Island comes on the heels of another involving a Missouri pediatrician who allegedly wrote around 1,200 fake prescriptions to at least 25 females from 2014 to 2022 in exchange for sexual favors, many of whom were drug addicts or women he had treated as minors.
