Thread: Osteopath Loses License after ‘Dateline’ Pedophile Sting

http://dca.ca.gov/press_releases/2007/0208_ombc.html




Press Release

Printer Friendly Version
California Osteopath Loses License after ‘Dateline’ Pedophile Sting
Osteopathic Medical Board of California Investigation Concludes Doctor Demonstrated Unprofessional Conduct, Dishonesty and Corruption in Seeking to Meet Adolescent “Boy”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2007 CONTACT:
Russ Heimerich, Office of Public Affairs (916) 574-8170
Kevin Flanagan, Office of Public Affairs (916) 574-8167

SACRAMENTO — An osteopathic physician who was caught in a network television newsmagazine sting in Maryland trying to initiate a sexual liaison with a 14-year-old boy, will lose his license to practice in California.

Dr. Jeffrey R. Beck of Ramona, CA, has been barred from practicing since March 27, 2006 when the California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Osteopathic Medical Board (OMB) won an Interim Suspension Order of his license while the case against him proceeded. A decision issued by an Administrative Law Judge to revoke Beck’s license was adopted by the Board on Jan. 17, 2007 and his Osteopathic Physician and Surgeon Certificate will be revoked as of February 16, 2007.

“We’re very happy with the outcome of this case,” said Donald J. Krpan, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and Executive Director of OMB, which investigated the case. “Our inquiry demonstrated Dr. Beck’s behavior was incompatible with the standards of his profession and put consumers at risk. We’re pleased the Administrative Law Judge agreed.”

The case against Beck, who has been licensed in California since 1979 but who had been working and living in Maryland until late 2005, stems from his appearance on the MSNBC news program Dateline. Beck was filmed in August 2005, when he arrived at a home in suburban Maryland. He thought he was meeting a 14-year-old boy whom he had “met” in an Internet chat room, and with whom he had a sometimes sexually explicit correspondence. The “teen-ager” was actually an adult working undercover with Dateline to expose sexual predators on the Internet.

Confronted by a Dateline reporter at the scene, Beck denied that his interest in the “boy” was sexual.

Although Maryland law enforcement authorities eventually declined to prosecute Beck, OMB launched an investigation into his behavior that culminated in an Accusation asking that Beck be stripped of his license for unprofessional conduct, corruption and dishonesty. By that time, Beck had returned to California and reactivated his license. He was employed as a screener for medical marijuana patients until the Interim Suspension Order, which OMB sought in order to protect consumers while the case was being investigated.

At a December 2006 hearing into the Accusation, Beck admitted he fantasized about having sex with young boys and regularly visited an internet chat room for people who shared those fantasies, spending hours at a time there. But he again denied he intended to meet the “boy” for sexual purposes, insisting he had gone to the home only to help the teen, whom he believed might be in trouble.

Administrative Law Judge James Ahler rejected most of Beck’s testimony as “not believable.”

“(Beck’s) claim that the notion of man-boy homosexual sex was repugnant to him was inconsistent with his habit of visiting the Dads for Sons chat room to talk and fantasize about such encounters for up to five hours a day,” Ahler wrote in his proposed decision in the case.

Ahler also noted that transcripts of Beck’s e-mail correspondence, the Dateline videotape and the testimony of other witnesses in the case supported OMB’s Accusation.
Department of Consumer Affairs Director Charlene Zettel applauded the Board for its aggressive handling of the case.

“Although there is no evidence Dr. Beck has ever caused a patient harm, consumers must be able to trust their doctor. Dr. Beck’s behavior calls into question his honesty and character, and the Board’s swift action is commendable,” Zettel said.

The purpose of the Osteopathic Medical Board of California is to protect consumers and promote the highest professional standards in the practice of osteopathic medicine. In addition to licensing osteopathic physicians and surgeons, the Board investigates consumer complaints and uses its enforcement power to ensure practitioners abide by the provisions of the state Business and Professions Code’s Medical Practice Act.

###





This web site contains PDF documents that require the most current version of Adobe Reader to view. To download click on the icon below.



Contact Us | Conditions of Use | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Technical Support
© 2007 State of California

this man should be in jail not just having his medical license removed.