Father Testifies in Molestation Hearing

A former Irvine pastor testified Wednesday that he met twice with a Newport Beach neurosurgeon for an explanation of treatments on his daughter, then 12, that allegedly involved regular pelvic examinations and photographing of her genitals.

The father, who headed a Baptist church in Irvine, testified that he met with Dr. Francis J. Williams, 64, after church one Sunday in 1985 to discuss his daughter’s reports that the examinations and photographs did not seem right.

“She was having feelings that she shouldn’t be examined like she was . . . the postures she was asked to assume,” the father said during the second day of Williams’ preliminary hearing on charges that he sexually molested the girl and another female patient.

15 Visits to Office

The defendant, now 16, testified Tuesday that she was asked to kneel nude on the table while the doctor examined her from behind. The incident allegedly occurred during one of about 15 visits to Williams’ Newport Beach office in 1985.

The girl’s father testified Wednesday in Municipal Court in Newport Beach that Williams had explained the treatment in “medical terms I didn’t understand,” adding that the pictures were taken because “his medical books were old and outdated and he’d rather use (the pictures) to show her things.”

Attorneys for Williams have said the pictures were used to explain hygiene to the girl, who now lives in Lexington, Ky., with her father and mother.

Williams, who was a member of the pastor’s congregation, had hired the girl’s mother as an office assistant and was treating the daughter for a learning disability, as well as giving money to the family as a favor, said Williams’ attorney, Byron K. McMillan.

Williams was arrested in November and charged with molestation after the girl told doctors in Kentucky of the alleged molestation during a counseling session for an attempted suicide by drug overdose.

The second alleged victim testified Wednesday that she did not come forward until she saw television news reports about Williams’ arrest.

The 26-year-old woman, under questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. Kelly McEachern, said Williams gave her a pelvic examination last January after she was referred to him by her doctor for consultation about back and leg pain. The woman said she asked Williams at the time why a pelvic exam was needed.

“He said there were just some nerves he wanted to test to see if there was a reaction,” she testified.

She said she did not consider notifying authorities about the exam until she saw Williams on television in connection with the alleged molestation of the Irvine girl. She contacted her doctor, who told her that a pelvic exam had not been listed in notes on the case forwarded to him by Williams.

The defense countered with testimony from Williams’ longtime associate, gynecologist Johnnie Betson Jr. Betson said he and Williams created and had used a technique that treated back problems by removing a spinal disk by way of the abdominal area. He said a pelvic exam could be necessary in the woman’s case in preparation for the operation.

Father Arrested

Defense questioning also revealed that the teen-ager’s father had been arrested in January, 1985, by a Newport Beach police officer posing as a prostitute on Harbor Boulevard. That information was introduced to suggest that the girl’s emotional problems could have stemmed from family problems. The girl’s father testified Wednesday that he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace in the case.

Municipal Judge Susanna S. Shaw is expected to decide today whether there is sufficient evidence to try Williams on the charges.

If convicted, Williams could face 20 years in state prison, MacEachern said.