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Depraved gynecologist Robert Hadden turned on the waterworks in Manhattan federal court Tuesday, telling a judge he was “very sorry” before he was officially sentenced to 20 years behind bars for sexually abusing dozens of vulnerable patients.
Hadden, 64, told the court there was “much I’d like to say” but that his attorneys had advised him to keep his statement short.
“I’m very sorry for all the pain that I have caused,” he said through tears.
Judge Richard Berman, who on Monday announced he would slap the disgraced ex-doctor with two decades behind bars, called his crimes “shocking and extreme” before doling out the promised punishment.
Berman noted that at least 245 women had reported being abused by Hadden, saying he’d never before seen a case like this one, which involved “outrageous, horrific, beyond extraordinary, depraved sexual abuse.”
Hadden, of Englewood, New Jersey, was found guilty by a jury in January of four counts of enticing women to travel across state lines so he could abuse them during his tenure at prestigious Big Apple hospitals, including ones associated with Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian.
The sentencing took place over the course of three days — including a hearing last month in which several women described the toll the abuse had taken on their lives and asked Berman to lock Hadden up for as long as possible.
The hearing on Monday dragged into Tuesday after Hadden’s defense attorney objected to the sentence the judge said he intended to impose — griping that it was four times the five-year term that federal sentencing guidelines suggested.
“Here you have somebody who has already lost everything, and you’re giving him effectively a life sentence,” attorney Deirdre von Dornum said.
Prosecutors had asked that he be sentenced to at least 25 years, while Hadden’s team requested a prison term of just three years.
During his three-week trial in January, jurors heard from a number of Hadden’s former patients who detailed how he carried out his abuse. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Hadden committed as many as 310 acts of sexual abuse and assault on dozens of patients in his care.
The abuse began when Hadden started practicing in 1987 and continued until 2012, when he was exposed, prosecutors said.
The hospitals he worked at have agreed to pay former patients $236 million to settle civil lawsuits filed over the abuse.
Hadden pleaded guilty in state court in 2016 for sexually abusing six patients — but didn’t have to serve any jail time under the terms of the sweetheart deal. He lost his medical license and had to register as a sex offender.
Hadden was freed on $1 million bail after his 2020 arrest on the federal charges, but has been jailed for the last several months.
“Under the guise of medical treatment, Robert Hadden sexually abused and assaulted numerous patients for approximately 25 years, exploiting them in vulnerable moments for his own sexual gratification,” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Tuesday.
“Hadden will rightfully spend decades in federal prison,” the statement said. “We thank and commend the victims who bravely came forward to share their stories and ensure that their abuser faces justice.”
With Post wires
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