Orange County LGBTQ+ doctor charged with sexual abuse of 9 patients

An Orange County doctor specializing in the treatment of members of the LGBTQ+ community has been accused of sexually abusing nine male patients, according to prosecutors.

Local authorities are asking the public to help provide further information on other possible victims.

Dr. William Thompson IV, 56, of Huntington Beach is an infectious disease doctor who provides “general medical services” to the LGBTQ community, according to Thompson’s website.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Thompson is accused of assaulting nine male patients between 2016 and 2020 under the pretense that the attacks were part of necessary medical examinations.

According to a press release from the public prosecutor’s office, he is accused of eight counts of sexual penetration under fraudulent pretense, three counts of sexual assault by fraud and two counts of forced oral sex.

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The Times reached out to Thompson for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Six of Thompson’s patients said they were sexually abused by Thompson after learning that the procedures he performed on them were not medically necessary, the press release said.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said many of the doctor’s patients depended on his “life-saving treatment and he exploited those vulnerabilities for his own sexual gratification.”

“Unfortunately, because of Dr. Thompson’s specialty, he placed the very patients he was supposed to treat with professionalism and dignity in a situation where they may have felt they had no choice but to submit to sexual abuse in order to receive the treatment they needed to continue living,” Spitzer said.

Read more:Sexual assault charges against Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend dropped

Thompson was arrested at his Newport Beach doctor’s office on September 20 following a joint investigation by the California Department of Consumer Affairs and the Newport Beach Police Department. He is currently free on $100,000 bail.

If convicted on all counts, he could face life in prison plus 25 years.

His arraignment is scheduled for November 2 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

The District Attorney’s Office asks anyone with additional information to contact the Newport Beach Police Department at (949) 644-3682. Anonymous tips can be sent to (800) 550-6273.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.