NORWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A former pediatrician at South Shore Medical Center in Norwell has been summonsed to court to face 16 felony sexual assault charges including four claiming rape of a child, according to court documents.
Richard Kauff, 68, treated children for almost 40 years. Charges against him now come months after detectives interviewed two women in Norwell back in October, documents show.
A police report said the pair had been chatting in a Facebook group called “Mamas of the South Shore.” Together, documents said they compared recollections about how their doctor had examined them inappropriately as children.
Both women said Kauff was their pediatrician. According to the police report, both women told police Kauff would ask them to count to three and use the same peculiar phrase while assaulting them.
The women recalled going for checkups at the now former location of the South Shore Medical Center on Washington Street in Norwell.
According to the police report, the alleged abuse at the office dated all the way back to the early 1990s, when the two alleged victims were just seven- or eight-years-old.
Though the police report indicated a parent would be in the room, it said “Dr. Kauff would position himself in a manner that what he was doing was obscured from their view.”
A state board charged with licensing doctors in Massachusetts showed Kauff with an active medical license Tuesday.
South Shore Health has released a statement, in the meantime, saying “We are taking this very seriously and will cooperate fully with any investigation.”
“At this point, our focus is on how to best assist and support all of our patients, families and staff,” the statement continued.
Efforts to reach Kauff and his attorney were unsuccessful Tuesday. Kauff is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 20.
Norwell’s police chief has urged any other victims to come forward if they feel they have information about what might have happened at Kauff’s office.
(Copyright (c) 2023 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)