Shocker: Pedophile Pediatrician Mel Levine Found Dead

Accused Pedophile Pediatrician Mel Levine  Found Dead in North Carolina Yesterday.

The Boston Globe is reporting that formerly renowned pediatrician and best selling author Mel Levine was found dead in North Carolina yesterday. This comes two days after a press conference in Boston by lawyer Carmen Durso to announce a class action suit by more than 40 men who said they had been molested by Levine at Boston Children's Hospital from 1966- 1985. Please note that Dr. William Ayres also practiced at Children's Hospital from 1959-1963.

Here's the link from the Boston Globe: Dr. in Sex Abuse Suit Dies

Excerpts:

Dr. Melvin D. Levine, a former Children’s Hospital Boston doctor and best-selling author, was found dead yesterday, his attorney said, a day after he was sued over accusations that he sexually abused thousands of pediatric patients.

News of Levine’s death came a day after a class action lawsuit was filed in Suffolk Superior Court contending that the doctor sexually abused as many as 5,000 patients during his 19-year career at Children’s Hospital. The suit named the hospital and Levine and asserted that he committed medical malpractice and that the hospital was negligent in failing to properly supervise him.

The suit cited 40 former patients, all young boys at the time, who said that Levine performed unnecessary genital examinations.

Boston lawyer Carmen L. Durso said his suit sought to represent all children examined by Levine when he worked at Children’s Hospital, from 1966 through 1985.

“On a typical visit, he would tell the parents that they could not come into the examining room, because that would interfere with his ability to perform a proper examination,’’ Durso said at a press conference Thursday in his Boston office. “He would require the boys to strip naked, not just for when he did the exam, but for the whole time of the exam, regardless of the reason for the treatment.’’ Durso said Levine performed prolonged genital exams.

After learning about Levine’s death yesterday, Durso said his clients would evaluate whether to pursue their claims against his estate.

What a coward Levine was for refusing to face the reality of what he had done.  Here's hoping all of his victims pursue their claims against Levine's vast estate.

Boston Children's Hospital - where Levine worked from 1966-1985 and is also being sued by Levine's victims- appears to have been quite the hotbed for pedophile doctors:

William Ayres worked at Boston Children's Hospital from 1959-1963.

Donald Lee Rife, whose license was revoked in three states for molesting adolescent boys, worked at Children's from 1964-1966.

UPDATE: Boston Globe reports on new details of Levine's suicide:


The Boston Globe is reporting today that Levine died by a 12-gauge shotgun blast to his forehead:
"Pediatrician's Suicide Soothes No Wounds"

More importantly, a number of Levine's victims break their anonymity and using their full names, talk about the abuse.

One man, who is now a fireman, recounts that as a ten year old, his parents allowed Levine to take him on a trip to Washington, DC.   At their hotel , Levine made the boy get into bed with him and then fondled him repeatedly.


Here's an excerpt:

Among the alleged victims who joined Durso’s latest lawsuit, Neil Liston still harbors deep anger toward Levine. The 38-year-old personal trainer from Nahant said Levine fondled and performed oral sex on him during an appointment at Children’s in 1979 when he was 7.

“When I saw my mom after it happened, I was so freaked out that I wet my pants,’’ Liston said. “I remember looking at his head and not understanding what was happening. I remember holding my breath.’’

He said he told his family what happened, but his grandfather decided to keep quiet because he thought nobody would believe them and that it would cause Liston more problems if they made a big deal about it.

He blames the experience on a long list of personal problems and said he requires therapy and struggles with depression.

“When I learned that he died, the truth is that I felt robbed,’’ he said. “I just wanted to look at him and see what his reaction was when he had to look us in the eye . . . I didn’t want an apology; I would have liked to punch him right in the head. Maybe I wanted some sort of admission of guilt.’’

[Addendum, from Deep Sounding]:
In case you haven't heard yet, Levine's suicide note was released. In it he claims innocence, but then gives us a guilty clue at the end of his note. Read about it here:

So Long, Mel Levine, It's Been a Blast!