Ernesto Torres, Maryland Pediatrician Indicted On 65 Child Abuse, Sexual Assault Charges

A pediatrician in Frederick County, Maryland, was arrested Monday after being indicted on 65 child abuse and sexual assault charges.

After Dr. Ernesto Cesar Torres, 68, was charged May 3 for the alleged rape of an 18-year-old patient that happened late April, an additional 11 victims came forward accusing the pediatrician of various sexual offenses. On Friday, a grand jury indicted Torres of nine counts of child sex abuse, 10 counts of sex abuse of a minor, 43 counts of a third-degree sex offense, two counts of a second-degree sex offense and one count of second-degree assault.

”We believe based on the allegations that Dr. Torres poses a significant threat to the public, which is why we requested he be held without bond. To date, we have had 11 additional potential victims come forward. We will review each one independently of the other to determine whether they are sufficient to charge. We again encourage anyone with information regarding the case to contact authorities immediately,” Frederick County States Attorney Charlie Smith stated, CBS Baltimore reported.

Earlier this month, Torres was released on $100,000 bail on rape and sex offense charges regarding the case of the 18-year-old victim. “The incident occurred in April, and the young lady reported it right away to her dad. Her dad contacted the Frederick Police Department, and they conducted the investigation,” Smith said.

The new charges were brought against the pediatrician after extensive interviews and follow-up investigation by detectives.

“We had parents that called in who said they believed that their child was also a victim and then, upon further investigation, the state’s attorney’s office decided to file for the additional charges,” Michele Bowman, a Frederick police spokeswoman, said, Frederick News Post reported.

One of the 11 victims who came forward was an 11-year-old girl who went to the accused to get her skin condition treated. “The one case did involve an examination for a skin condition. And while examining the 11-year-old girl with regard to that skin condition, inappropriate conduct occurred,” Smith said.

Torres practiced pediatric medicine in the county since 1979 and was particularly popular among the growing Spanish-speaking population in the area. According to the Maryland Board of Physicians, his license was issued nearly four decades ago and he had a clean record for the past 10 years.

“From the sheer number [of calls] that we had last time, we’re now working with one of our local partners to get [our release] translated into Spanish, as well, because if there are any other victims we definitely want to know about it. He had a lot of patients who came to him because he spoke Spanish and we know it’s a very tight-knit community,” Bowman said.

Torres was scheduled to appear in Frederick County Circuit Court for a bail review hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Police believe there could still be other victims in the case. Anyone with information about the allegations against Torres, including other potential victims, was requested to contact Detective Sean McKinney at 240-578-5683.