Blog Post

Anaheim Doctor Convicted of Sexual Assault of a Minor


July 14, 2008
Topic: Sexual Abuse

For Anthony Lee, it's three years in the slammer, and the loss of his much-abused medical license. For his unfortunate victim, however, it's a lifetime of scarring and endless therapy. The 64-year-old gynecologist from Anaheim, California has been convicted of sexual abuse of a teenage girl. Lee pleaded guilty to felony charges of sexual battery by fraud, as well as residential burglary by entering a home with the intention of committing sexual assault on a minor victim.

The doctor, the district attorney's public affairs counsel said, was a friend of the victim's family, and was a visitor to their home. On one such instance, Lee pretended to have arrived for a medical consultation, and offered to teach the unidentified 16-year-old girl about contraceptives. He then followed the girl upstairs to her bedroom, where he proceeded to sexually abuse her. Lee was arrested when the girl told her mother. She also said that the doctor had abused her on a prior occasion, when she was 10 or 11 years old. With her trusting parents having seen no need for caution, the girl had been also abused on one other occasion when Lee, ever the benevolent father figure, was teaching her to drive.

After this sexual abuse case broke into the news, two other women came forward to claim that the gynecologist had made sexual advances on them in his La Palma Avenue office during medical exams. Those assaults cannot be prosecuted because the statute of limitations on them has expired.

One wonders how many more silent victims this pervert-in-doctor's-clothing has managed to leave behind in his path. For a trusted doctor to misuse the sort of faith that his patients bestow on him is disgusting and completely shameful. All he has to pay for his despicable behavior is three paid-for-by-the-tax-payers years in the state prison, and the loss of his license. Lee will also be registered as a sex offender, which may or may not make much difference to him if he decides to move away from town, taking his sickening behavior with him. In other words, what's to say that there won't be a repeat of this case in another city halfway across the country, when he's finally out of jail in three years time?

Punishments for sexual assault on minors in this country are pitifully low. Convictions like Lee's come with great difficulty, if at all, and sentences are ridiculously light. Meanwhile, the young teenager undoubtedly will carry the burden of this experience with her for the rest of her life. For her, there will be no escaping the sense of revulsion and complete betrayal by a reputed doctor trusted by her and her family. How can three years compensate for this?

As a young victim of sexual assault, this young woman has every right to claim compensation for the limitless mental and emotional havoc wreaked on her and her family through Lee's shameful behavior. A few months behind bars is a ridiculous punishment for a crime this grave. The victim's family should, definitely consider filing a civil lawsuit against Lee for the suffering he has caused them.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of sexual abuse. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.