Maryland Psychiatrist Busted For Child Molestation Actually Admits: Physical Exams Were "Not, You Know, Necessary," "Very Out Of the Mainstream"

"I'm pretty much the accepted model"- Testimony of William H. Ayres, July 8, 2009.

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"I now realize that it is not, you know, necessary. I'm very out of the mainstream of psychiatry." Statements made by Towson,Maryland child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Miguel Frontera in 2006 to officers from the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Baltimore County Police Department in 2006 when questioned about the need to perform genital exams on two boys, age 10 and 12 who had come to him for behavioral issues associated with ADD.

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"In his interview with the Board, the Respondent stated that his examinations were either 'not necessary' or were 'uncalled for.'... The Respondent also admitted that he could have performed physical examinations on his minor male patients while they were clothed but did not do so 'out of habit.'"From Section 16 of the Maryland Board of Physicians' Order for Summary Suspension of Dr. Miguel Frontera's License to Practise Medicine, November 2009

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Is there a mini-epidemic of child psychiatrists who molest children ? Because recently we stumbled upon yet another such case- this one very similar to the Ayres one. This past November, the Maryland Board of Physicians suspended the medical license of Dr. Miguel Frontera, an adolescent and child psychiatrist from Towson Maryland for touching the genitals of five boys, -aged 10 to 12 -he was treating for behavioral issues between 2000 and 2009.

According to the report put out by the Maryland Board of Physicians, Frontera's case was reviewed by a psychiatrist who was board certified in adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry and forensic psychiary. The reviewer found that Frontera "engaged in unprofessional conduct in the practise of medicine, immoral conduct in the practice of medicine, sexual improprieties and sexual misconduct with patients."

After perusing the report ourselves, we can say that the Maryland Board of Physicians sure has different ideas about appropriate standards for psychiatrists who are treating minors than William H Ayres does. Because they punished Frontera for exactly the same things that Ayres blithely admitted were part of his routine for years.

Here are some of the Board's findings against Frontera:

1) Failing to Notify Parents About Physical Exams:
Both Ayres and Frontera performed genital exams on the boys without the parents' knowledge. Indeed, in some of the cases, Frontera forgot to mention he was even doing a physical exam. In one case, when a terrified boy who had already had his genitalia touched extensively by Frontera discovered that Frontera was going to "examine" him again on the second visit, asked that his mother be present in the room. Frontera refused. As for Ayres, there have been reports that he actually asked parents to leave the waiting room altogether.

2) Failure to Use a Chaperon During The Exam:
Remember when Ayres testified he didn't examine girls because they would need a chaperon and in the process bizarrely implying that boys don't need chaperons? Well in Maryland, for a doctor to examine a minor of either gender without a chaperon is a big no-no. Frontera, it seems never used one (and apparently, just like Ayres, he never did physical exams on girls)
What was Frontera's excuse for not having a chaperone with boys? Well, he told the Board that he "did not provide a chaperon during physical examinations or request this patients' parent(s) remain in the room when performing them because of embarrassment he experienced as a child when undergoing physical examinations in the presence of his mother"!!

3)Failure to Leave the Room When the Boys Undressed:
For both Ayres and Frontera, this was standard practise.

4)No Examining Table:
Ayres "examined" his victims on the table where they'd made clay models. Frontera used an ordinary couch.

5) No Medical Reason to Make A Boy Undress:
According to the Maryland report, Frontera "failed to weigh the intrusiveness of a physical examination against its probative or diagnostic value;" Frontera "had patients undress, which did not further support the diagnosis of treatment plan;" Frontera "required minor male patients to undress during parts of an examination that did not require the patients be unclothed."

As for Ayres, we all know he just gave physicals when he felt like it, for no reason whatsoever. Whether a boy came to him because he was being bullied at school or was suicidal, his diagnosis was the same: off with his pants!! And then Weinberg and he tried to come up with some cockamamie excuse for Ayres' pedophiliac urges.

But there's one big difference between the two disgraced psychiatrists: Frontera at least admitted that his examinations were "not necessary," "uncalled for," and "out of the mainstream."

Ayres,on the other hand had the gall to testify that he was "the accepted model." As for being the proven model, try telling that to Ayres' former colleagues at Judge Baker who say that if Ayres had ever been caught giving a genital exam to a boy during therapy, he would have been instantly fired.

Read the rest of the Maryland Board's Suspension Order against Frontera here:

https://www.mbp.state.md.us/bpqapp/Orders/D3755911.069.PDF