Former physician convicted of groping patients in Torrance and Redondo Beach back in court
Mahendra Udani, a former gastroenterologist convicted of molesting two female patients, appeared in court today for a restitution hearing. However, Torrance Superior Court Judge Michael Vicencia said he wasn't going to hear arguments or make any rulings on the issue because the case is still on appeal.
Udani was convicted in March 2007 of 18 charges and was sentenced to two years in jail. However, he remains out of jail on bond pending appeal of his case. Previously, Vicencia ordered Udani to pay the women a total of $115,000. Part of that money, their attorney said, was to get diagnoses and treatment plans for therapy.
Now, the two women who were 22 years old in November and December 2004 when Udani groped them, are asking Vicencia to order Udani to pay them about $500,000 to carry out that treatment plan, according to their attorney. Vicencia said if Udani's convictions are upheld on appeal, they can come back and ask again.
Udani, 56, of Palos Verdes Estates, massaged, squeezed and pinched the patients' breasts while they were under his care at a Torrance hospital and his Redondo Beach office. The jury who convicted him also heard evidence that he had inappropriate sexual contact with two additional women. He has since lost his license to practice.
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Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
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Odd sense of justice. I have worked with a victim of sexual abuse where the acts are so horriffic it still brings the death sentence in 7 states. The unconvicted felon/victimizer is a manhattan beach resident that still teaches as an elementary school music teacher for los angeles. While his daughter has filed a police report, nothing has happened for over 6 months. Instead he has used the system to bring police to his daughter and my door with restrining orders against us. Nice system.
Marty
Of one has to keep in mind cases like the tragic and farcical McMartin Preschool scandal that put Manhattan Beach on the map for what many see as a modern day Salem witch hunt. The real scandal in this case turned out to be the false claims made against the school teachers and staff, and it took the better part of a decade and multiple millions of dollars to work its way through the justice system before the it finally blew over without a single conviction.
Certainly this case struck fear into the lives of many teachers across the country who now realized that their careers and lives could be ruined if a single student or parent made claims against them.