DA: Former Bethpage Pediatrician Pleads Guilty to Sex Abuse

A former pediatrician pleaded guilty Friday to drugging and sexually abusing young girls in his Bethpage office, claiming the incidents were part of a medical examination, authorities said.

Rakesh Punn, 56, of Bethpage, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance and one count of first-degree sexual abuse, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said.

Punn faces 15 years in prison in this case. As a condition of his plea, Punn must register as a sex offender upon completion of his sentence. He also agreed to forfeit $2,113,994 – criminal proceeds of the medical practice that was used to directly and materially aid Punn to commit these felonies, the Nassau DA’s office said.

Punn is due back in court for sentencing on Dec. 5.

In April, Punn had pleaded guilty to federal sexual abuse charges. He faces 15 to 30 years on those charges, and has not yet been sentenced.

“For these young girls, a routine trip to the doctor’s office ended in a nightmare that they will likely carry with them for the rest of their lives,” Rice said Friday, in a statement.

Back in November 2012, Punn pleaded guilty in a separate case to grand larceny, welfare fraud and a scheme to defraud. He faces one to three years in prison in this case.

Punn was arrested on July 16, 2010 on charges that he drugged, sexually abused, and videotaped young female patients, one as young as 11, in his office. Punn told the girls that these were medically necessary examinations, according to the DA.

Rice said that in 2007 Punn took video footage and still photographs of at least five young girls in his office. Punn obtained video footage in two different ways. First, he would have them disrobe, lie on the exam table, and cover their eyes with gauze and a blindfold. He would then videotape or photograph his sexual contact with them. Investigators say that Punn touched and manipulated the girl’s genitals. In many instances, Punn would give the girls a sedative to render them unconscious.

In other instances, he had the girl stand in his office, while a small digital camera hidden among objects on his desk recorded video. Punn would then have the victim expose her breasts in various positions while being taped. Punn also duped some of the girls into signing a “contract” that said that they were 18 and willing to perform numerous sexual acts on Punn, according to the DAs office.

Punn also wrote prescriptions for chloral-hydrate, a controlled substance, and gave the prescriptions to patients or another person. He would then trick the patients into filling prescriptions and bringing them back to him, under the guise of compounding a special drug or “checking” the prescription. Punn then secretly removed the bottle of chloral-hydrate and kept it for himself. During a search warrant of his office, investigators found three bottles of chloral-hydrate, with prescription labels in patient’s names, the DA’s office said.

A search of his home revealed a large amount of cash and a forged international driver’s license with his photo, but a false name and birth date, officials said.

Punn is represented by John Pedranghelu and Steve Zissou.

In April, Zissou told Newsday that Punn “ accepts responsibility and plans to move on with his life.”