Judge Throws Out Molestation Counts Against Physician

A judge Thursday dismissed felony charges against a Newport Beach neurosurgeon accused of molesting two patients, saying that one of the alleged victims had changed her testimony too many times.

Municipal Judge Susanne S. Shaw ruled that there was insufficient evidence to order Dr. Francis J. Williams, 64, to stand trial in Superior

Court on felony charges of molesting a 12-year-old girl and a 26-year-old woman. Shaw said Williams’ examinations of the two appeared to be for legitimate medical purposes.

In fact, the judge said, Williams treated the girl and her family “like his own,” providing free medical treatment for them.

During the final day of a 3-day preliminary hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kelly MacEachern contended that Williams performed pelvic and breast examinations of the 12-year-old in 1985 for a “sexual purpose.”

In dismissing the charges, Shaw advised Williams to reconsider his practice of videotaping examinations, which the doctor had described as a precaution against medical malpractice suits.

“They’re going to use that against you,” Shaw told Williams. “I would hope you have rethought those (tapings) in a big way.”

MacEachern on Thursday asked the judge to continue the hearing until 400 videotapes taken from Williams’ home could be viewed and possibly submitted as evidence. The judge told MacEachern that she should have made that request earlier.

The 26-year-old had testified that Williams gave her a pelvic examination after she was referred to him by her regular physician for back and leg pains. Another doctor had testified that treatment for the woman’s condition would involve possible abdominal surgery and that a pelvic examination was therefore proper.

In dismissing the charges, Shaw emphasized that the other victim, now 16, had changed her testimony about frequent pelvic and breast examinations several times.

The judge also questioned the prosecution’s allegation that the girl was sexually naive at the time. Williams’ attorney had introduced a sexually explicit letter written by the girl, which she testified was written after the doctor’s examinations had made her “wild.”

“She didn’t learn that at the doctor’s office,” Shaw said of the letter’s language.

Williams was arrested in November and charged with molestation after the girl attempted suicide and then told counselors about Williams’ examinations.

MacEachern said after the trial that she was disappointed with Shaw’s decision and that the district attorney’s office will review the evidence for possible refiling of the charges. Williams, who has been free on $25,000 bail since December, said he has continued to see patients at his Newport Beach office.

“My patients know that I’m not what I was accused of,” he said after the hearing, adding that he was not angry with the girl or her family. The father of the girl once was the pastor at Williams’ church but has since moved to Kentucky.

“My father was a pastor,” Williams said. “My heart and sympathy have always been with the pastor and his family.”

Donna Dennis, who was among members of Williams’ church who attended the hearing, said: “We never stopped praying for him. Some people don’t understand what prayer can do.”