Iowa doctor won't serve prison time for sex abuse

HAMPTON, Iowa — Seven women tearfully recounted in court how their doctor abused their trust to sexually exploit them.

Then they watched a judge sentence him to probation Thursday instead of prison.

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Dr. Brian Hansen — a family-practice physician once viewed "as a pillar of this community," according to one victim — had faced eight felony counts, including two of forcible sexual abuse. But a prosecutor agreed to drop the most serious charges and recommend probation if Hansen would plead guilty to a single count of using his position as a therapist or counselor to sexually exploit patients.

Before his sentencing, Hansen listened calmly as the seven women described the damage he did to their lives.

"You took a Hippocratic Oath in 2002 that you wouldn't do any harm to your patients, and you have — and I will never forgive you," said one woman, who said she lost her marriage and her job and had to leave town because of what happened.

Another woman told him the experience had strained her faith in God.

"You have allowed Satan to do his work through you," she told Hansen.

The women, Hansen's patients and co-workers , said he used information they told him in confidence to pressure them sexually. They described suffering mental anguish, including depression, sleeplessness and thoughts of suicide. One said she has scars on her arm from where she repeatedly cut herself because of the stress.

Doctor apologizes for his behavior

Before the women spoke in court, Hansen read a statement to about 60 people assembled.

"My actions with these patients was wrong. I'm sorry, and I apologize for my actions and my behavior," he said. "If I could go back and change things, I would."

Hansen told the court that he realizes now that he spent too much time at Franklin General Hospital instead of at home with his family.

"I believe that time away from my family, my home, caused me to make those decisions and those poor choices, and I started to look for other things at work," he said. His wife and other family members sat behind him as he spoke, and he thanked them for continuing to support him. "They endured the whispers in the community, the comments at school, my name in the paper."

He vowed to use the extensive treatment he will receive as part of his probation to rebuild his life.

District Judge Colleen Weiland was legally bound by the deal Hansen's lawyer made with the prosecutor, who is part of the Iowa attorney general's office. The judge sentenced Hansen to a total of 15 years of what amounts to probation, with intense oversight and sex offender treatment requirements. He will be placed on the sex offender registry. She also fined him $7,500.

"I'm astounded at the devastation that you brought on your community," she told Hansen.

Judge praises women's courage

The judge praised the women for having the courage to speak up about what happened. She ordered that Hansen have no contact with any of the victims, which she noted would be inconvenient for him.

"This is a small community. You'll find yourself leaving a lot of activities because of that no-contact order," she said, but added that it was fair for the burden to be on him instead of his victims. Hampton, about 100 miles north of Des Moines, has fewer than 4,500 residents.

Several of the victims said Hansen was a talented doctor, and they expressed sorrow for his wife, their children and his father, who also is a doctor at the hospital. Some of them said they had been afraid to report his crude sexual advances because they feared no one would believe their word against his.

"You were a highly successful physician and were seen as a pillar of this community," one woman told Hansen in court.

The Des Moines Register does not identify victims of sex crimes without their permission. Some of the witnesses testified that other victims were too afraid to step forward.

As part of his sentence, Hansen will be ordered to make restitution to the women. The amounts have not been set.

Lawyer says doctor about to lose job

His lawyer said in court that he probably soon would lose his job as executive medical director for a large nursing home chain. The Hampton-based company, ABCM, hired him in June after he left the hospital. ABCM's chief executive officer said Thursday afternoon that Hansen's "employment with our company has been suspended."

The Iowa Board of Medicine suspended Hansen's medical license in September, after accusing him of sexually harassing six co-workers, including four whom he had treated as patients.

The medical board's allegations included that Hansen made inappropriate comments and sexual overtures to women, masturbated while watching pornography in front of them, and inappropriately touched some of them. One of the unidentified women told state regulators that he "forcibly engaged in a sexual act" with her while providing medical care to her.

The medical board invoked its emergency powers to suspend a license before holding a full hearing. It said Hansen "has engaged in a pattern of behavior toward multiple patients that was threatening, aggressive, and in some cases assaultive."

The medical board's executive director said this week that despite the suspended medical license, Hansen was allowed to work in the administrative job with the nursing home chain as long as he wasn't caring for patients.