Doctor Accused of Molestation Kills Himself

A small-town physician who was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a hearing on charges that he molested an 11-year-old boy committed suicide Monday night, closing the case just before the prosecutor was about to file new charges, authorities said.

Dr. John Byron DeKock, 62, who had received widespread public support from patients and friends, was found in the garage of his San Diego Country Estates home in Ramona about 10:45 p.m. Monday, dead of a gunshot wound in the head, Deputy Coroner Cal Vine said.

DeKock’s wife, Louise, was visiting with her adult children inside the house when they heard the gunshot, authorities said. Her son, DeKock’s stepson, rushed into the garage and found DeKock still holding a .38-caliber revolver. Paramedics pronounced DeKock dead at the scene.

DeKock’s preliminary hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday morning on charges that, for four years, he had sexually molested the 11-year-old, a relative who looked upon the distinguished older man as a grandfatherly figure. Since DeKock’s arrest last month, more than 10 people, including the 11-year-old’s father, have contacted sheriff’s deputies to say that they, too, had been molested by DeKock.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Eugenia Eyherabide said that, at the request of DeKock’s attorney, Jack Phillips, she had been prepared to waive the preliminary hearing Tuesday. She added, however, that she had planned to file 10 additional molestation and exploitation charges Tuesday. The charges, which resulted from further interviews with the 11-year-old, would have brought the total number of counts to 33.

Eyherabide said she also had planned to amend her original complaint Tuesday to add DeKock’s previous conviction to the record. DeKock, a registered sex offender, had been convicted of molesting a 7-year-old boy in 1961.

Phillips said Tuesday that his client knew of Eyherabide’s plans, but that he did not seem suicidal when they last talked on Saturday.

“I’m not a psychiatrist,” Phillips said. “I just know that anybody under these kinds of charges who’s a member of the community has got to feel an inordinate amount of stress and tension.”

DeKock’s patients, many of whom had remained loyal friends despite the charges, said they were grief-stricken that the only doctor in town who made house calls had taken his own life.