WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Accused Doctor Defends Actions

A Westlake Village pediatrician accused of fondling four women last year took the stand in his own defense Monday afternoon in Ventura County Municipal Court.

Dr. Stuart M. Berlin, 35, faces six misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

Two of the women had testified in a preliminary hearing in July that Berlin fondled their breasts after they went to him because of problems with breast-feeding. Another said he massaged her breasts with lotion after she complained of back pain, and the fourth said that Berlin massaged her chest after she mentioned having migraines.

Most of the incidents occurred in the presence of the women’s infants or small children, and one woman’s husband was present, the women testified.

Under direct questioning Monday by his own attorney, Tim Quinn, Berlin testified that he gave a back massage to one woman whom he is accused of fondling, and that the woman seemed to enjoy the massage.

Berlin testified that he also examined the woman’s breasts to determine whether she had an inflammation known as mastitis and denied her testimony that he had fondled her.

On Monday morning, another of the four women testified that she saw Berlin in early summer of 1991 because she was worried that her problems with breast-feeding were causing her infant daughter to lose weight.

Berlin helped her pull her top down so he could examine her breasts, and “he wasn’t feeling them like a doctor would,” she said. “It was a different type of feel.” Berlin then put his mouth on her breast, at which point she pushed him away, dressed and left the office, the woman testified.

Berlin, who is free on bail, has closed his medical practice.