A Manhattan gynaecologist accused by the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang of sexually assaulting her now faces federal charges related to the sexual abuse of women, according to a new indictment released Wednesday.
The former doctor, Robert A. Hadden, who has lost his medical license, was charged with six counts of enticing women, including one minor, to engage in illegal sex acts.
The indictment says that over more than a decade, Hadden “sexually abused dozens of female patients, including multiple minors, under the guise of conducting purported gynaecological and obstetric examinations” at his medical office and at hospitals in Manhattan.
The indictment identifies six victims of Hadden only by numbers, and it was not immediately clear whether any of those cases included that of Evelyn Yang, the former candidate’s wife, who told CNN in January that Hadden sexually assaulted her in his exam room in 2012 when she was seven months pregnant with her first child.
The federal charges against Hadden were expected to be announced at a news conference Wednesday by Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney in Manhattan, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the head of the New York office of the FBI.
Hadden has been under a separate investigation by the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who has been sharply criticized for allowing Hadden to avoid jail in a 2016 plea deal after he had been accused of sexual abuse by 19 patients.
Vance’s office said in February that it had opened an investigation into new abuse allegations against Hadden.
The New York Times reported in February that more than 65 women have now accused Hadden of sexually abusing them, including two who were teenagers, according to a lawyer who represents many of the women.