New York urologist convicted of sexual abuse of patients – almost 150 new civil cases against him

A disgraced New York urologist who sexually abused female patients for years under the guise of medical treatment has now been sued by over 300 former male patients.

Darius A. Paduch of North Bergen, New Jersey, was found guilty by a jury in Manhattan federal court in May on 11 counts related to the sexual abuse of seven patients, four of whom were children during some of the abuse, The Associated Press reported.

In April 2023, charges were brought against him, and over time the number of his accusers continued to grow.

On Tuesday, 143 new civil lawsuits were filed in New York State Supreme Court against Paduch and the hospitals where he formerly worked, said attorney Anthony T. DiPietro.

This brings the total number of cases his firm has brought against Paduch and his former employers to 310, as a lawsuit had already been filed on behalf of 167 plaintiffs.

Years of abuse under the guise of medical care

According to his charges, Paduch worked as a urologist in New York City from 2003 to 2023, specializing in male infertility and male reproductive health.

From at least 2007 through 2019, he abused and raped patients, including minors, who visited him at a medical facility. He continued to abuse patients when he began working at another Long Island hospital in 2019.

Paduch used his position at prestigious medical facilities to make victims believe that the abuse and assaults he inflicted on them were medically appropriate, and he made them schedule frequent follow-up visits – which led to some of them being abused by him repeatedly over several years, the complaint says.

In his abuse, he sometimes performed physical exams without anyone else in the room, masturbated with his victims, played pornography, groped the victims, touched the victims without gloves or warning, made them travel from or through other states to attend appointments with him, and exchanged text messages and emails – including with minors – in which he made inappropriate and sexual comments, the complaint states.

After his conviction, Paducah's lawyers said that Paducah “has maintained his innocence since the beginning of the trial. He maintains that to this day and we will continue to fight for him. We will file motions and appeals after the trial and pursue all available legal remedies,” AP reported at the time.

According to court records, his lawyers filed a motion for a retrial in late May, but the court denied it on August 2.

His sentencing is scheduled for November 20.

More victims come forward

Attorney DiPietro said the new 143 civil cases also name Weill Cornell and Northwell Health Systems, alleging the defendants knew about what Paduch was doing to his patients and “conspired” to “cover up his crimes.”

DiPietro's company said Paduch worked at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and Northwell Health.

Northwell Health Systems did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Weill Cornell Medicine spokesperson said Wednesday: “The acts described in this criminal case are deeply disturbing and we are heartbroken for these survivors. Patient safety has always been our highest priority and it is our duty to create an environment that promotes dignity and respect for everyone who entrusts their care to us.”

The spokesperson said that after learning of the allegations, “our legal department engaged outside counsel to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the conduct of this former faculty member and has fully cooperated with law enforcement.”

Weill Cornell Medicine said it also conducted a comprehensive review of patient safety policies and practices by outside experts and has since “implemented improvements to our policies and training requirements and introduced new patient safety programs.”

The new lawsuit accuses Paduch of sodomizing patients with sex toys and performing surgical procedures on patients such as cystoscopies and varicocele surgeries, sometimes without anesthesia, “to inflict pain on patients – all without any basis in actual medical standards of care,” the law firm said in a press release.

“Darius Paduch has exploited more male patients than any other sex offender in history,” DiPietro said in a statement. “Patients trust these so-called 'top hospitals' to provide them with safe and appropriate medical care for deeply personal ailments. Patients do not walk into a doctor's office thinking they will be exploited by a twisted criminal in a white lab coat.”

The mother of a patient treated by Paduch as a urology patient at Weill-Cornell said in a statement shared by DiPietro, “By chance, I recently read what happened to my son during these visits. And it is worse than I could have ever imagined… When I learned what happened during these visits, it almost killed me.”

A lawyer for Paduch declined to comment on the new cases.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.