Nobelist Jailed for Molesting Boy, 16
A Nobel Prize-winning scientist was sentenced to up to a year in jail for molesting a 16-year-old boy, one of dozens of children he had brought to live with him from the Pacific islands. Dr. Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, 73, pleaded guilty in Frederick, Md., to two counts of child abuse. The young man, now 24, came from Micronesia in 1987. Gajdusek won the 1976 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on “slow viruses” that lie dormant before attacking the body. Under a plea bargain, the scientist will serve nine months to a year behind bars. If he had been convicted, he could have received 30 years. The FBI said the case grew out of an investigation of child pornography on the Internet.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Feb. 20, 1997 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday February 20, 1997 Home Edition Part A Page 3 Metro Desk 2 inches; 54 words Type of Material: Correction
Nobel scientist--An Associated Press story in Wednesday’s editions of The Times stated erroneously that a Nobel Prize-winning scientist had been sentenced after his guilty plea to two counts of child abuse. Dr. Daniel Carleton Gajdusek agreed to a plea bargain under which he will serve a sentence of nine months to a year in prison. The judge will impose the sentence at a hearing April 29.
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