Doctor Sexually Assaulted 17 Women In NJ, PA, NY: Report

A neurologist who worked in New Jersey has been accused by 17 women of sexual misconduct, according to reports. Ricardo Cruciani, who worked in Mercer County until late 2015, has been charged in Philadelphia with seven counts of indecent assault for touching patients while heading a Drexel University department.

At least 17 women in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, meanwhile, have accused Cruciani, 63, of sexual misconduct over the past 12 years, according to an Associated Press review of documents and interviews with the lawyer and three of the accusers.

Cruciani pleaded guilty Tuesday in Philadelphia to misdemeanor charges. As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to probation and can never practice medicine again. He must also register with the State Police and comply with all Megan's Law requirements, court records show.

According to the AP report, one patient said Cruciani tried to force her to touch his genitals and then masturbated in front of her. Another said she saw him regularly for three years without incident, but then, at an appointment in 2005, the neurologist grabbed her face and jammed his tongue down her throat.

Cruciani was a chief neurologist at Capital Health's Institute of Neurosciences at their Hopewell Township campus, according nj.com report.

Women who say they were sexually abused by Cruciani told the AP they felt they had no alternative but to continue seeing the neurologist, who specializes in rare, complicated syndromes that produce debilitating pain. They viewed Cruciani as their only hope of getting better.

Cruciani was fired by Drexel in March after an internal investigation of complaints made by several patients and charged by police in late September, according to NBC10. By his own request, according to nj.com, Cruciani's license to practice medicine in New Jersey is currently inactive.

Cruciani's lawyer denies the allegations. She told NBC10 the doctor is an impressive academic, researcher and medical doctor who's been wrongly accused.

Some of the accusers and their lawyers want to know how closely the 63-year-old pain doctor was supervised and whether he could have been stopped sooner, according to ABC7.

"These hospitals created this perfect storm of opportunity for him to victimize so many patients," Hillary Tullin, who saw Cruciani for years and said she was victimized repeatedly, said in the report. "The system failed." Tullin said that Cruciani touched her breasts and genitals, and that she performed oral sex on him at his request and he performed it on her.

Here is a video of Cruciani at a recent conference discussing pain management:

YouTube video/photo