Arraignment Postponed for Ex-Psychiatrist

A municipal judge on Wednesday postponed the arraignment of former psychiatrist Dr. Burnell Forgey, who is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy three years ago, a court clerk said.

Forgey, 80, of Irvine, who was represented by Deputy Public Defender David Swanson, briefly appeared before Municipal Judge Margaret Anderson in Newport Beach to ask for the delay, the clerk said. He is scheduled to be back in court May 28, when he is expected to enter a plea in connection with charges that he had oral sex with a teenage patient who was living at a home for troubled youths.

Earlier this week, Newport Beach police officers arrested Forgey at his home, after they found evidence that he and registered sex offender James Lee Crummel had taken the teenager to the condominium they had shared in Newport Beach and forced him to have sex on several occasions from December 1994 to May 1995. Both men have been charged with 16 counts of sodomy and having oral sex with the teenager, court records show.

Crummel, 54, also is suspected of murdering a Costa Mesa boy and molesting two other teenagers in San Bernardino County. He had been working and living with Forgey last year when Megan’s Law was enacted, prompting authorities to notify neighbors of Crummel’s criminal history.

Crummel’s rap sheet spanned decades and included a conviction of murdering a 9-year-old boy, which was overturned by a judge. Crummel then pleaded guilty to kidnapping in that case, records show.

He and Forgey eventually were evicted from the Newport Beach condominium under community pressure.

In January, Forgey surrendered his license after a medical board investigation concluded that he had been “grossly negligent” in allowing Crummel, “an aggressive pedophile,” to accompany him on visits to youth group homes. Forgey also was accused of improperly prescribing drugs to Crummel and himself.

Meanwhile, investigators from the county child and family services agency, state medical board and police began combing through hundreds of cases to find possible sex-crime victims after they learned that Crummel may have had contact with some of Forgey’s teenage patients, authorities said. In their search, they located the 16-year-old boy.

Newport Beach Police Lt. Andy Gonis said there are no other known victims, but authorities are continuing to investigate.