A Long Island judge has ordered former pediatrician Stuart Copperman to pay $22 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a 42-year-old woman who claims he sexually abused her since she was a child until he is 18 years old.
The decision was the first passed against Mr. Copperman, who is accused of abusing multiple patients over decades. More than 100 other civil claims against him by former patients are pending.
Mr. Copperman did not enter a defense in the case and does not have an attorney of record. He did not respond to requests for comment.
The plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe AR I, filed suit under the New York State Child Victims Act, which allows adult victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers. will be abused until their 55th birthday. Prosecutors can file felony charges on behalf of victims up to their 28th birthday.
In addition, the law provided a one-year grace period after its enactment that allowed people at any age to file a civil lawsuit regardless of when the alleged abuse occurred.
Many lawyers are reluctant to pursue such cases against individuals, as the likelihood of recovering damages is slim. Jane Doe AR I am represented by attorneys Michael Della, of Long Island, and Kristen Gibbons Feden, who prosecuted Bill Cosby and are now with a firm in Philadelphia.
In a ruling handed down late last week, Nassau County Judge Leonard D. Steinman said the years of abuse caused him to develop a severe and long-term psychological disorder and suffer emotional distress, anxiety and depression that continues to this day.
“The plaintiff has not been involved in a normal, healthy romantic relationship – she has never dated – and although the plaintiff is a highly educated and intelligent woman, she is unable to maintain steady employment” and receives disability pay, the judge wrote.
“Copperman’s abuse robbed the plaintiff of a normal, healthy and happy life,” the judge wrote in his decision. “The psychological scars resulting from abuse are permanent.”
Jane Doe AR I did not speak until she was five years old, and developed dissociative identity disorder as a result of the trauma, said Ms. Gibbons Feden.
“The thing that’s really important to point out is that sexual trauma doesn’t just go away,” Ms. Gibbons Feden in an interview. “It has a lifelong effect on a person.”
For decades, Mr. Copperman had a thriving pediatric practice in Merrick, NY He had an excellent reputation as a physician who would make house calls and respond to a medical emergency. He was sought after as an expert speaker.
Mr. often sees Copperman the young female patients alone in the exam room, asking the parents accompanying them to wait in the reception area, under the guise of giving the girls a chance to speak freely.
His standing in the community was such that when children and young people complained of abuse, many parents did not believe them.
Although the state’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct has received a steady stream of sexual abuse complaints about Mr. Copperman for nearly two decades, it did not revoke his medical license until December 2000. At the time, he was 65 years old and ready to retire.
Officials could have acted sooner: Two young women testified before a medical disciplinary panel in 1985 about their abuse, but the panel members – led by physicians – did not believe the them.
Prosecutors in Nassau County, where Mr. Copperman as president of the local pediatric society, did not press criminal charges.
According to the verdict handed down last week, Mr. Copperman Jane Doe AR I in every examination, digitally penetrating her genitalia and anus and stimulating her clitoris, even if he visited her for a sore throat or a cough.
Mr. insisted Copperman to “check up” on her even though she already had an appointment for her sister, whom she accompanied.
The plaintiff was confused and frustrated by the doctor’s actions, but did not fully understand that the conduct constituted abuse until she was older and stopped being his patient, according to the decision.
She was left traumatized by the ongoing abuse, which caused emotional distress as well as physical symptoms, loss of self-esteem, shame and humiliation, the judge said.
“We would have liked to examine him and really put him on trial,” Mr. Della said. But, he added, “This is as close to justice as we can get.”
“We fully intend to try to collect any assets that he may or may not have.”
