But then a series of troubling allegations began to emerge: Dozens of patients accused him of sexually abusing them during exams after offering sometimes dangerously high doses of drugs to keep them under control, prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office said. during a trial this month. . When they resisted, she kept their prescriptions. On Friday, a jury found Mr. Cruciani guilty of 12 counts of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, rape and other crimes after about three days of deliberations. Mr. Cruciani’s month-long trial centered on the stories of six women he treated around 2012 at Beth Israel Medical Center, now known as Mount Sinai Beth Israel, in Union Square and at facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Friday that Mr. Cruciani, 68, violated the public’s trust in doctors by abusing his power over patients and deliberately exploiting their pain. “Dr. Cruciani left behind six survivors who continue to suffer from debilitating illnesses and now, years of trauma,” Mr Bragg said. “While we can never undo his horrific actions, I hope this conviction serves as a measure of justice.” Fred Sosinski, Mr. Cruciani’s lawyer, said in a statement Friday that he believed the trial court made “a large number of legal errors” and that he planned to appeal the verdict. “It appears that the collective gravity of the six accusers, rather than a fair examination of each of their problematic accounts, carried the day,” Mr. Sosinsky said. Mr. Cruciani’s case represents a stark example of how powerful medical professionals can take advantage of flawed oversight systems and escape punishment for crimes. Others have faced similar high-profile claims in recent years, including Larry Nassar, the former USA women’s gymnastics team doctor, and Robert E. Anderson, the University of Michigan doctor who died in 2008 and has been accused by hundreds of football players and others sexually abused students. Prosecutors and witnesses told jurors during the trial that Mr. Cruciani’s advances often began gradually. He would hug patients tightly or run his fingers through their hair. But over time, his behavior escalated: The doctor fondled the women, kissed them without permission and forced them to perform sexual acts or have intercourse, prosecutors said. Reports of Mr Cruciani’s misconduct date back more than 15 years. Sexual contact between doctor and patient is expressly prohibited by medical ethics. But administrators at several hospitals ignored reports of misconduct against Mr. Cruciani, who is from Pennsylvania, and allowed him to quietly take new roles in other posts or states, according to allegations in several lawsuits. He was arrested in 2017 on charges that included indecent assault and indecent exposure. But he avoided prison after reaching a deal that required him to surrender his medical license and register as a low-level sex offender. At his trial in Manhattan, prosecutors told jurors it was time to finally hold the doctor accountable. Over the years, prosecutors said, he followed a similar pattern in each abuse case: He formed personal bonds with his patients, asking them about their upbringing, relationships and personal lives, then began sexually assaulting them. As patients returned, he increased their doses or began prescribing new drugs and became more brazen in his behavior, prosecutors said. Some of his patients developed drug addictions. One woman told The New York Times last year, for example, that as her drug addiction grew, Mr. Cruciani became more violent, fondling her, masturbating in rooms with her and forcing her to give him oral sex. In his closing arguments, Mr. Sosinsky, Mr. Cruciani’s defense lawyer, argued that his accusers were unreliable, the Associated Press reported. “You should have every reason to doubt these charges,” Mr Shosinski told jurors. Mr. Cruciani is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 14 and could face up to life in prison. He also faces a state case in New Jersey and federal charges in Manhattan of luring women across state lines for illegal sexual activity that could increase his time behind bars. On Friday, several survivors praised the verdict and said it will help them continue to heal. “To finally be vindicated, to finally know that this man will never hurt another human being, to finally know that I might be able to sleep at night — it’s a great sense of relief,” Hilary Tallin said. During the trial, Ms. Tullin testified that she had sought Mr. Cruciani’s help about two decades ago for chronic pain that other doctors had tried to diagnose. But soon he started calling her at home and telling her he was thinking about her. Once, she said, he grabbed her face and forcibly kissed her. She said she was “overjoyed” with the verdict and cried when she first received the news. The emotional and mental scars from her experiences will never go away, she said. But she hopes they will slowly fade from her mind. “As much as I’ve been through counseling and trauma therapy,” she said, “I don’t think I could finally say that I can begin to heal until I get this verdict. I can start trying to rebuild my life.”
