NEWPORT BEACH : Doctor Could Get 10 Years in Molestation

A Newport Beach psychiatrist who pleaded guilty to sexually molesting an unconscious male roommate who was also a former patient could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

The sentencing date will be set in Superior Court in Santa Ana on May 21 for Dr. James H. White, 47, who was arrested last March at his office by the Newport Beach police after a complaint from the victim.

The day he was arrested, police also raided his Corona del Mar home and found a 20-minute videotape of him molesting the sleeping man, authorities said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dennis Bauer said there were no deals made in return for the guilty plea last week in Municipal Court.

“He basically was throwing himself at the mercy of the court, probably to avoid the videotape of him engaging in sexual acts with the victim played in an open courtroom,” Bauer said.

Defense attorney Paul Meyer said White decided to plead guilty to “end the pain” suffered by the victim.

Police said the victim told them that White had been treating him for stress in connection with a back injury. He and the psychiatrist eventually became friends, and he said he moved in with White last year at the doctor’s invitation. He later moved out after White drugged him with prescription medicine and molested him, he said.

White also was a consulting psychiatrist and a member of the faculty board of directors of Camp O’Neal. Three teen-agers and two counselors from the camp and two would-be rescuers fell through the ice at nearby Convict Lake and drowned. The officials of the Sierra Nevada juvenile-detention home, including White, were accused by state social service officials of negligence, but no criminal charges were filed.

The doctor pleaded guilty before Judge Christopher W. Strople to two counts of commiting sex acts on an unconscious victim. White, free on $200,000 bail, is temporarily barred by a Superior Court judge’s order from practicing medicine. He faces a June 19 California Medical Board hearing on whether his license will be revoked.

Meyer said he will recommend that White receive counseling and probation instead of a prison sentence.