By Stephanie Chelf
Eagle-Tribune
March 31, 2008
http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_091223546.html
BOSTON — Lawyer Carmen Durso, a Haverhill native who represented victims of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, is now a central figure in a sexual assault complaint against a doctor who has made appearances on the "Oprah" and "Today" shows.
Durso, on behalf of five unnamed clients, filed a complaint yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court accusing Dr. Melvin Levine of sexually abusing patients when he was treating them at Children's Hospital in Boston more than 20 years ago.
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| Lawyer Carmen Durso Photo by Ken Yuszkus |
Levine is a best-selling author who is now a professor and director of the Pediatrics Center for Development and Learning at the University of North Carolina.
The alleged abuse took place from 1967 to 1984, when Levine was a pediatrician at Children's Hospital, specializing in treatment of children with development and emotional issues.
The victims, all adults now, were between 5 and 12 years old when the alleged abuses took place. There are seven alleged victims, Durso said.
"These kids had serious issues and they sought treatment. In the course of treatment he was sexually abusing them," Durso said. "Certainly, all (the victims) have had ups and downs in life; they were all affected in different ways. The person who is accused is a high-profile person who has done some good things. These people are independently saying essentially the same thing. That brings credibility to the situation."
Boston defense lawyer Edward Mahoney said in a statement that Levine "categorically denies" the allegations.
"He adamantly denies these claims," Mahoney said. "Dr. Levine is distressed about the distorted or misinterpreted memories from decades past, and questions the motivation. He prefers not to participate further in counsel's efforts to obtain free advertising for his legal practice."
Levine is the author of "A Mind at a Time," a New York Times best seller, which focuses on children's varied learning habits.
Children's Hospital also is named in the lawsuit.
"We never had any complaint from any patient or parent of any patient suggesting inappropriate conduct of any nature by Dr. Levine," the hospital said in a statement. "Children's Hospital's most important goal is to protect children's health and promote their well being. Our staff is trained and experienced in detecting abuse and mistreatment of children. Such behavior, if identified, is treated with the utmost seriousness and addressed immediately."
The court complaint alleges that Levine sexually assaulted the patients during "repeated and unnecessary" physical exams. Durso said one his clients, identified only as plaintiff John Doe #5, only realized the abuse in 2006 while taking his own child to the doctor's office.
"He got overwhelmed and he realized why," Durso said. "The time people make connections (about abuse) very commonly happens later on."
The sexual assault included "numerous acts of genital fondling, masturbation and other attempted and threatened acts of assault," the complaint states.
Durso is representing five clients: two live in Massachusetts, two live out of state and one is in prison. They are all males.
Durso has made representing sexual assault victims a focus of his practice.
His most high-profile case was representing 85 victims of the clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
He said he takes on cases other lawyers shy away from.
"Not a lot of lawyers want to or are willing to be involved in these cases," Durso said. "I'm willing to. I feel I accomplished something for someone when cases are successful."
Durso said it is satisfying to win abuse cases because often other people don't believe the victim and the victim's life has been significantly impacted because of the abuse.
"It's never about the money," Durso said, talking about a case where the victim prevailed with a $15,000 settlement, an amount that pales in comparison with other abuse cases.
The young woman, a baby sitter, was being abused by the man she was working for.
"She was so happy. She took back control," Durso said of the case. "The money is punishment and forced recognition on the part of the perpetrator. It was nothing financial, it was satisfying."
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