A former pediatrician from Norwell, Massachusetts, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually abused at least 15 children who were his patients.
Richard Kauff had been indicted on nine counts of rape of a child with force and eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He appeared in Plymouth Superior Court Friday where he pleaded not guilty to all of the counts against him.
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Prosecutors say Kauff retired in 2022 after nearly 40 years of work as a pediatrician, most recently at South Shore Medical Center in Norwell, where he lives. He also saw patients at the South Shore Medical office in Kingston.
An investigation began last year after an anonymous person posted in a local Facebook group in October 2023 that they believed they had been sexually assaulted during an annual checkup. Others advised that person to tell the Norwell Police Department, prosecutors said.
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A day later, a second person went to the Norwell Police with similar allegations against Kauff. After Kauff was charged by Norwell police in Hingham District Court, over three dozen individuals came forward to report similar experiences with Kauff, the district attorney's office said, though the indictment does not cover all of those accusers.
“The allegations against Dr. Kauff are truly disturbing,” Erika O’Donnell, a partner with the law firm Shepard O’Donnell who is representing nine accusers, said in a statement.
“Not only did he victimize children, but he did so right in front of their parents — using his position as a trusted physician to deceive victims and their parents," she continued. "At their most vulnerable, he broke their trust and his victims and their families are paying the price.”
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Kauff’s lawyer, Kelli Porges, told The Boston Globe after the arraignment that her client was “100% innocent.” She declined to elaborate when reached by The Associated Press.
After the first allegations were made in October, Porges told the newspaper that plaintiffs' lawyers took to social media in search of more accusers and enticed them with the potential of civil suits.
Kauff has been released on $50,000 cash bail with conditions that he have no contact with the victims and stay away from the Norwell and Kingston facilities of South Shore Medical Center. He may also have no unsupervised contact with children under 16 or leave Massachusetts without permission, and he must surrender his passport and medical license.
He's due back in court on Sept. 17.
