Doctor Defends Examination of 4-Year-Old Rape Victim

A physician accused by police of mishandling the examination of a 4-year-old rape victim responded Tuesday by alleging that the Sheriff’s Department ignored evidence in order to make a quick arrest of the girl’s 12-year-old cousin.

Dr. Christine Daniel told The Times that as she examined the girl early Monday morning at Lancaster Community Hospital, she noticed deep purple bruises that appeared to be older than the red bruises left by Sunday’s sexual attack.

Daniel said she recommended that a specialist, a pediatric gynecologist, examine the girl, but that a deputy refused to allow it.

“I told them I wanted to investigate the whole picture, to find out everything that happened,” said Daniel, of Woodland Hills.

“I think what aggravated the [deputy] was that I wrote in the chart that that there was evidence of old marks [from possible previous sexual assaults], and that ruined their theory that this kid was the only one doing it . . . which means they have to find this person. But they want everything quick. I wanted to know, ‘Who else is molesting this child?’ ”

Daniel, 41, has been practicing medicine since 1980. Records of the California Medical Board show no complaints or discipline against Daniel, who runs a clinic for primarily poor patients in North Hollywood.

Sgt. Kevin Carney, the supervisor of the Sheriff Department’s child abuse detail for the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys, said the department stood by the account of the single deputy, Theresa Dawson, who was in the examination room at the time, but declined to comment further. The deputies had alleged that Daniel made the victim wait, treated her roughly and then refused to complete the examination.

Also Tuesday, the district attorney’s office filed four child molestation charges against the 12-year-old.

The boy, who was on a weekend pass from a group home for troubled children, is being held at Sylmar Juvenile Hall. Authorities said the boy had been the victim of sexual abuse in the past.

Darrell Paulk, administrator of the LeRoy Haynes Center in Laverne, a group home where the boy has been living for the past 16 months, said the boy had shown no sign of “having any problems of this kind before.”

The boy had been accused of burglary and assault in the past. Citing confidentiality concerns, Paulk would not say why the boy was being held at the center.

The girl underwent further tests at County/USC Medical Center on Tuesday, and was released, authorities said.

The controversy began Monday, when Sheriff’s Det. David Fletcher, who works in the department’s child abuse unit, said Daniel made the little girl wait 90 minutes before beginning the exam. A Sheriff’s Department report on the incident said that Daniel abruptly inserted a swab in the child’s vagina, which caused her to cry, Fletcher said.

Fletcher said that Dawson had to complete the rape test by taking a suspected semen sample from the girl’s leg after the doctor said the girl was being uncooperative.

But on Tuesday, Daniel said that she had nearly completed the exam, and was attempting to wash the walls of the vagina to look for semen and other evidence, when the girl closed her legs and started to cry.

Daniel said she was unable to persuade the girl to continue the exam. Daniel said that during the exam she found that the girl’s hymen had been severely damaged, but was not bleeding--an indication it had been penetrated before. Daniel said she told a deputy, and the child’s mother and grandmother--who were also in the exam room--that she suspected that the girl had been previously sexually assaulted and wanted another physician to do a more thorough examination.

Daniel said the deputy refused and told her to sign a document which stated that the exam had been completed. Daniel said she refused because she was unable to complete the vaginal wash procedure.

Daniel also said that the little girl was forced to wait before receiving the exam because of a hospital policy which requires the presence of a nurse from the Sexual Assault Response Team, a group created by the county to ensure that victims are treated sensitively and crimes reported properly. The nurse, Daniel said, did not arrive for about two hours after she was called.

Daniel said that because it was a busy night in the hospital’s emergency room, she went to treat other patients while waiting for the nurse to arrive. “We had a man having chest pains,” she said. “And I had to wait to start the exam anyway.”

When she noted signs that might signal previous instances of sexual assault, Daniel said she told a deputy: “Do you realize this kid has been molested before? We’ve got a problem.”

“The sheriff was only interested in getting evidence,” said Daniel. “They wanted me to fill out the paperwork so they could rush out and arrest the 12-year-old.”

Steve Schmidt, the administrator of Lancaster Community Hospital, also declined to comment on specifics of the case, but said the hospital was conducting an investigation and that the hospital planned no discipline.

“Anything that can be perceived as being untoward is worthy of investigation,” he said. “But there’s two sides of the story.”