Ex-Doctor Sentenced Today for Sexual Assault
Posted on 30. Nov, 2009 in News Stories
Case Synopsis
Today, a former plastic surgeon was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison for sexually assaulting two of his patients. Most news sites don’t have the nitty-gritty, but we do. Here are the details:
Background
Dr. Scott Takasugi graduated from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara in 1983 and received his California medical license in September of 1986. He subsequently specialized and received his board certification in plastic surgery. No one seemed to know about his special fetish, however.
S.W.
In June of 1998, Dr. Takasugi saw a patient S.W., a 17 year old female who had breast deformity and asymmetry. During the examination, Dr. Takasugi told S.W. that he needed to examine her vaginal area to “color match” her nipples to the vaginal tissues. S.W.’s mother was present during the exam. Dr. Takasugi then held a “paint chip” next to the vagina and photographed the area. Surgery proceeded as planned and all was well. (Note: it is NOT standard practice to “color match” the nipples to the vagina.)
B.W.
A few months later in September, Dr. Takasugi saw another patient B.W. who was 14 years old. She had breast asymmetry and wanted correction to get equal sized and shaped breasts. Dr. Takasugi told the patient and her mother that he needed to determine whether she was done developing and could determine this by examining the color of her vagina. Somehow they must have agreed to such an interesting request. After he held up a “color chart” next to the B.W.‘s vagina and photographed it, he told her and her mother that she was not done developing and should return in one year for reevaluation. B.W. didn’t return.
K.C.
A little over a year later in December of 1999, K.C. saw Dr. Takasugi for breast reconstruction surgery. She had likely suffered from breast cancer because she had had a mastectomy of her right breast. During the exam, Dr. Takasugi convinced her that he needed to examine her vagina to make sure there wasn’t an infection. Apparently, he felt that he also needed to insert his finger.
A.T.
It keeps getting better. On June 25, 2001, A.T. saw Dr. Takasugi for a preoperative examination prior to breast reduction surgery. Dr. Takasugi’s staff asked A.T. to disrobe from the waist up. Dr. Takasugi then entered the room and took photographs of the breasts. But just taking the photos weren’t enough. Before he took the pictures, he pinched her nipples until they became erect. For whatever reasons unknown to modern medicine, he needed them erect for the photos.
After that, he had A.T. get on all fours so that her breasts would hang down independently. Next, she was told to remove her underpants. One wouldn’t be surprised at this point to learn that Dr. Takasugi watched as she undressed. Probably uneasy, A.T. asked why he needed to exam further. Dr. Takasugi replied that her areola were stretched and he needed to color match her nipples to her vagina. He had her lay on her back, feet flat on the table, and knees spread apart. We know what happened next…yep, he took photos!
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J.H.
J.H. was another patient who saw Dr. Takasugi for breast reduction. She was just 20 years old. On November 9, 2001, she told him that she was concerned about scarring badly as she was a “keloid former”. She had a scar on her buttock to prove it. What an opportunity! Dr. Takasugi asked her remove her pants so he could see it. As he examined her, he pushed her underwear to the side and touched her genitalia with his ungloved hand. He then asked if he could perform a vaginal examination and take photographs. She refused and saw someone else for the surgery.
C.J. and M.O.
In 2002, C.J. and M.O., 32 years old and 23 years old respectively, saw Dr. Takasugi in seperate visits for breast reduction. During his exam, he asked to color match their nipples with her vagina. He had them disrobe, used his own hand to spread apart their labias, and photographed the vagina.
B.M.
On March 8, 2006, B.M. was scheduled for breast reduction surgery. She was 24 years old at the time. In the preoperative area before surgery, B.M. was lying on the gurney covered only by the hospital gown and a bed sheet. Dr. Takasugi visited her to discuss the surgery that was to be performed. As if the urge couldn’t be resisted, Dr. Takasugi lifted the bed sheet and gown off, moved her legs to expose her pelvic area, spread her labia apart with his own hands, and looked at it (obviously without her consent).
J.M
Then on May 2, 2006, another patient J.M., who was 24 years old, had a preoperative visit with Dr. Takasugi for breast reduction. In the examination room, Dr. Takasugi made surgical markings on her breasts with a marking pen. He then pinched her nipples…yes, you got it, he told her that this was necessary to make them erect for the photographs. After that, he had her undress completely so that he could examine the vaginal area. He had her spread her labia apart. After he photographed the area, he quickly inserted one finger in and out of the vagina. He then asked J.M. to dress and leave.
Case Outcome
These last two patient cases were brought before the Superior Court of California where on June 5, 2009, Dr. Takasugi pled no contest to two felony counts of sexual exploitation of the patient. On October 6, 2009, he surrendered his medical license.
Today, on November 30, 2009, he was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison with two years of probation. As part of the plea deal, Dr. Takasugi will have 19 other felony charges against him dropped but must register as a sex offender.
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cat
Dec 1st, 2009
I’m thankful he was made to register as a sex offender. It’s disturbing and sad how long this went on for and even more so that he did this to a 14 year old! It just goes to show how much power we give a doctor not to get up and walk out the door after such a request. We just trust that they are not going to do anything to harm us.
It does bother me that he got so little jail time. Feels like a slap on the wrist.