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Phony doctor lures
By Rod Ohira
children into phone
sex, police say
Star-BulletinA man posing as a physician is seducing young children who are home alone into having telephone sex.
"There may be a connection to an earlier series that was never solved," said Detective Letha DeCaires, the Honolulu Police Department's CrimeStoppers coordinator.
In the early 1990s, police investigated a series of rapes involving a suspect known as "Dr. Young," but made no arrests.
Police currently are investigating complaints from the Salt Lake area about a "doctor" calling children -- both girls and boys -- at their residences, DeCaires said.
"He speaks to them in such a manner that they believe he is conducting a physical exam on the telephone," DeCaires said. "He tells them to perform sexually explicit behavior on the telephone.
"We don't know yet if it's the same suspect (as in the earlier cases) or if it's a copycat, but there are similarities."
The first reported case in the earlier series occurred in October 1991, when an 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a Chinatown apartment.
The victim told police a man who identified himself as "Dr. Young" telephoned and made an appointment to examine her while she was alone.
"Dr. Young" preyed on several other young children living in Chinatown high-rises through early 1992.
In July 1993, a "school doctor" attacked a 9-year-old Salt Lake girl, who was alone in her grandmother's Chinatown apartment.
In all the cases, the suspect appeared to have knowledge of when children were alone.
Police are urging parents to alert their children about talking to strangers on the telephone or letting them into their homes.
Families who may have been contacted by the suspect are asked to call Detective David Do of the Child Sex Crimes Unit at 529-3055 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
