Portland, Oregon – Women and families of children, who alleged sexual abuse by former West Linn family doctor David Farley, along with their attorneys, responded to a March 21 West Linn Tidings Op-Ed by Clackamas County District Attorney, calling his statements “knowingly false,” and demand the public release of the Grand Jury transcript in Farley’s criminal case. They specifically challenge the following statements by Wentworth:
“All known patients with a colorable claim of abuse testified before the grand jury.”
- According to published reports, the jury received testimony from 41 witnesses which include several people who were not victims. 71 victims of Dr. David Farley have written a letter to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum demanding a full, independent investigation. More than 100 have filed civil suits. Most of these victims were not called to testify.
“Detective Christensen didn’t have specialized training in sexual assault interviewing. However, extremely qualified investigators from multiple agencies assisted the investigation.”
- The independent investigation by the city of West Linn expressly stated: “Based on Christensen’s transcript, Christensen did not have the training that Policy 615.10 states that a qualified investigator “should” have.” (p24). In their letter to Attorney General Rosenblum, 71 Farley victims specifically criticized the actions of Wentworth’s own Deputy District Attorney Sarah Dumont. According to the letter, “When we shared the intimate and very sensitive details of our sexual assaults by Farley with Ms. Dumont, describing the very different nature of digital penetration and a legitimate pelvic exam, she responded, ‘[You] are not a doctor,’ implying that we, as survivors of sexual abuse, cannot comprehend the difference between these two very different acts. If that wasn’t bad enough, when survivors shared that Farley digitally penetrated their vagina without gloves, Ms. Dumont laughed and said, ’Just because he didn’t wear gloves, doesn’t make that abuse.’” (Letter to Attorney General Rosenblum 11/9/22 p.4). No “extremely qualified” sexual assault investigator would ever make such a ludicrous statement.
“Victims were treated with indifference/disrespect. The investigator commissioned by West Linn to review recordings of police interviews found exactly the opposite.”
- The independent investigation detailed numerous instances where victims were disrespected and disbelieved by Detective Christensen. “All of the witnesses I was able to interview told me they experienced Christensen as not understanding what they were saying, making dismissive remarks such as, “Well this isn’t ‘Law and Order.’” (p.16)
“By the time reports to law enforcement were made — well after the photos were taken — Farley resided in Idaho, with no evidence he still possessed the same phone used to take the photos. “
- This is also contradicted by evidence presented in the City of West Linn Independent Investigation. On June 22, 2020, Oregon Medical Board Investigator Jason Carruth sent an email to Detective Christensen and said “…we wanted to make sure that this fella (Dr. Farley) was not already on your radar regarding any child pornography investigation so that we did not impact any other agencies active investigation. As you can imagine, this type of study is completely out of bounds and would certainly create concern regarding any electronic evidence he may have of child pornography. Ultimately, we are a licensing board and while we have subpoena authority, we do not have warrant authority. Once he knows we are looking at him for this behavior I fear any evidence he may have that would be useful in a criminal investigation will certainly disappear. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. Take care sir.” (Exhibit 5, Page 4 of 5)
“Prosecutors did not present evidence (to the grand jury) of Farley admitted taking nude photographs of children on his cell phone. In fact, they did.”
- Wentworth has changed his story again. “Oregon Public Broadcasting asked Wentworth multiple times about what the grand jury knew about Farley photographing the genitals of his minor patients. Wentworth initially couldn’t answer the question. In follow up interviews, he said prosecutors did not attempt to bring child pornography charges against Farley because they didn’t think they had enough evidence that a crime had occurred.” (OPB 29, 2022)
“It’s really difficult because he’s a doctor. During exams, doctors must often touch their patients in intimate places. The medical context of these allegations did make proving criminal conduct difficult.”
- Proving sexual assault by doctors and health care is difficult. That is why it is so important to have skilled, qualified professionals investigate and prosecute these cases. In Oregon and throughout the United States, competent prosecutors and law enforcement agencies successfully charged and convicted many doctors who sexually assault their patients. Portland podiatrist Dr. Brian Bowen has been charged with sexually abusing seven women between 2022 and 2023. In California, ex-UCLA gynecologist James Heaps was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexually abusing patients. In Pennsylvania, family doctor Johnny Barto was hit with a sentence of 79 to 158 years for sexual crimes. In New York, former Columbia University gynecologist Dr. Robert Hadden was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Farley is the only reported case of a grand jury failing to indict a doctor accused of sexually abusing patients.
A statement released by Farley victims states, “It is insulting to hear District Attorney Wentworth’s claim than more than 100 victims were not given the opportunity to testify before the grand jury because they did not have ‘a colorable claim of abuse.’ He essentially calls these brave women and girls liars. That is emblematic of the distain and disrespect shown to sexual assault survivors by Wentworth and his office.”
Courtney Thom, a former prosecutor who is representing the women in the civil actions said, “District Attorney Wentworth continues to act more like Dr. Farley’s defense attorney than the peoples’ protector. He continues to defend the botched investigation of Farley, discount the reports of victims and the Oregon Medical Board, and misrepresent the gathering and presentation of evidence. Wentworth uses the grand jury proceedings to justify his claims yet refuses to release the transcripts. There is only one way to put this controversy to rest. DA Wentworth should immediately release the full grand jury transcript to the public, redacting only the names of the victims who do not wish to be publicly identified.”
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Manly, Stewart & Finaldi is the nation’s leading firm representing victims of sexual abuse by physicians, Universities, school districts, churches, and sports organizations. They are the lead attorneys representing victims of former Olympic Team doctor Larry Nassar and secured $880 million in settlements. They were the lead attorneys representing victims of former USC gynecologist George Tyndall resulting in an historic $852 million settlement. They currently represented 151 women in the $ 243.6 million settlement of sexual abuse litigation against UCLA and their former gynecologist/oncologist James Heaps.
D’Amore Law Group has represented thousands of personal injury and abuse victims and their loved ones in Oregon, Washington, and California since 1992. The firm handles a variety of cases, including sexual abuse, auto and trucking accidents, nursing home and medical negligence, construction and job site injuries, and bad faith insurance practices. Tom D’Amore is a board-certified trial attorney in Civil Practice Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a member of American Board of Trial Advocates and is a past president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) and serves on the Boards of the American Association of Justice, Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, and OTLA.
