Berkeley Pediatrician To Be Sentenced Next Month

OAKLAND, CA — An 84-year-old Berkeley pediatrician with 54 years of experience is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 2 for his conviction for a felony count of sending harmful matter to a minor with sexual intent, according to court records.

Dr. Bayard Allmond pleaded no contest to that count involving a teenage boy on Nov. 8.

In exchange, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office agreed to dismiss three other counts involving the boy: misdemeanor child molestation, felony sexual battery for false professional purposes and misdemeanor sexual exploitation of a patient.

The plea agreement calls for Allmond to be given credit for the one day he spent in jail when he was arrested on Dec. 14, 2017, at the Berkeley home where he also has his medical practice; be placed on three years' probation; surrender his medical license; and abandon his practice.

Court records indicate that the victim's family isn't happy with the way Allmond's case was resolved, as Allmond originally was scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12. The family asked for a postponement so that they could be present at the sentencing.

The victim's family couldn't be present Dec. 12, and Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer agreed to postpone Allmond's sentencing until Jan. 2 "because the family has the right to be heard," according to court minutes.

Allmond's lawyer, Paul Wolf, objected to the postponement, according to the minutes.

Wolf said Friday that he suspects that the boy's father is unhappy with Allmond's plea agreement and proposed sentence.

Allmond is "an 84-year-old man who has an extraordinary reputation and is generally loved and admired professionally," Wolf said.

He added that Allmond "has worked well with hundreds of patients" and said his behavior with the teenage boy was "aberrant."

Wolf said he feels "compassion for the young man" who was the victim and thinks the victim wanted the case to remain private.

The criminal complaint against Allmond contains "provocative allegations," Wolf said, and he believes "many of them cannot be proven and are not true."

Three of the charges against Allmond stem from alleged actions from January through April 2016, and one stems from allegations on Dec. 21, 2016.

Berkeley police Officer Darren Kacalek wrote in a probable cause statement that the boy told police that he made visits to Allmond to receive therapy for anxiety and panic, starting when he was 16.

Kacalek said the boy told investigators that three or four months into the therapy sessions, Allmond began showing him explicit photos of men masturbating and later used images and pornographic videos to show him how sex is performed between men.

When Allmond was arrested on Dec. 14, 2017, he "admitted to engaging in sexual acts with the victim inside his office," Kacalek said.

Allmond "admitted what he did was wrong, that he showed poor judgment, and he regretted the incident," Kacalek wrote.

The victim told police that he got two emails from Allmond in August and November of 2017 asking whether he could meet him so that he could apologize, according to Kacalek.

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— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock