Doctor Accused Of Abusing Young Boys
Some Charges Are 30 Years Old
POSTED: 2:59 pm EDT March 31, 2008
UPDATED: 7:20 am EDT April 1, 2008
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BOSTON -- A doctor whose best-selling books led to an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show has been accused of sexually molesting seven young boys while treating them at Children’s Hospital in Boston.Some of the allegations go back decades. None is recent and all are "categorically denied" by the doctor. 
Watch Video Dr. Melvin D. Levine, 68, is named in a civil law suit filed Monday and charged with a pattern of abuse over a period of 17 years that ended in 1984.One of the men now charging sexual abuse said he was “unable to recall” the events until February, 2006.The sexual assaults, he claimed, began in 1980 and were done “under the guise of performing repeated, but unnecessary, physical examinations.” The accuser, who is unnamed in the civil suit, was eight years old at the time and saw Levine for psychiatric treatment.At the time, Levine, a Harvard-educated physician, was the chief of the Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics at the hospital."There are seven people who independently say they were sexually abused by this guy," said attorney Carmen Durso, who is representing five of the men.Levine is a nationally recognized expert on child learning and now a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School. He is the author of at least six books, including “A Mind At A Time,” a New York Times bestseller."He adamantly denies these claims," said Levine's attorney Edward Mahoney. " Dr. Levine is distressed about the distorted or misrepresented memories from decades past, and questions the motivations."A similar law suit was filed in 1988 in Federal court and dismissed. In 1993, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine dismissed a charge that Levine had sexually abused a patient.A biography on the Web site of a foundation he co-founded says his work provides a “groundbreaking framework for understanding why children struggle in school.”Levine appeared on Oprah in 2002 and his biography said he has also appeared on the NBC "Today" show.The other men claiming sexual assault said the abuse also occurred when they were Levine’s patients in Boston. Their ages at the time ranged from 5 to 13.The complaint provided no details on the abuse alleged in those cases or explained why they waited so long to come forward.In a statement, Children’s Hospital said while Levine was a member of its staff “we never had any complaint…suggesting inappropriate conduct.”
Watch Video Dr. Melvin D. Levine, 68, is named in a civil law suit filed Monday and charged with a pattern of abuse over a period of 17 years that ended in 1984.One of the men now charging sexual abuse said he was “unable to recall” the events until February, 2006.The sexual assaults, he claimed, began in 1980 and were done “under the guise of performing repeated, but unnecessary, physical examinations.” The accuser, who is unnamed in the civil suit, was eight years old at the time and saw Levine for psychiatric treatment.At the time, Levine, a Harvard-educated physician, was the chief of the Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics at the hospital."There are seven people who independently say they were sexually abused by this guy," said attorney Carmen Durso, who is representing five of the men.Levine is a nationally recognized expert on child learning and now a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School. He is the author of at least six books, including “A Mind At A Time,” a New York Times bestseller."He adamantly denies these claims," said Levine's attorney Edward Mahoney. " Dr. Levine is distressed about the distorted or misrepresented memories from decades past, and questions the motivations."A similar law suit was filed in 1988 in Federal court and dismissed. In 1993, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine dismissed a charge that Levine had sexually abused a patient.A biography on the Web site of a foundation he co-founded says his work provides a “groundbreaking framework for understanding why children struggle in school.”Levine appeared on Oprah in 2002 and his biography said he has also appeared on the NBC "Today" show.The other men claiming sexual assault said the abuse also occurred when they were Levine’s patients in Boston. Their ages at the time ranged from 5 to 13.The complaint provided no details on the abuse alleged in those cases or explained why they waited so long to come forward.In a statement, Children’s Hospital said while Levine was a member of its staff “we never had any complaint…suggesting inappropriate conduct.”Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
