Source: Dallas Morning News
Date Retrieved: September 23, 2009
Editorial: Sex offender should not hold medical license
04:57 PM CDT on Monday, September 14, 2009
Few yardsticks in life are better than the headline test. Try it on this one: "Sex offender keeps license
to practice psychiatry."
It gets worse, as in: "Doctor's offense involved a 10-year-old neighbor."
To say that something is out of whack in state law is an understatement. The case involves Dr.
William Olmsted, a child psychiatrist who pleaded no contest to a molestation charge in Dallas
County but was able to skate past the State Medical Board with his license intact, albeit with
restrictions.
Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, has vowed to look into the matter, and we're encouraged that he will.
Those who have a state license to treat people at their most vulnerable must be beyond reproach.
Those listed on the state's sex-offender registry could not fit into that category.
State law should be tightened up so future Olmsted-like cases don't fall between the cracks of separate
state codes governing criminal, licensing and administrative law. By the time the State Medical Board
got the Olmsted matter, it was six years old and involved a sentence of deferred adjudication –
probation, essentially.
The age of the case and absence of a guilty verdict did not permit the board to immediately suspend
Olmsted's license. Pursuing revocation could have involved proceedings lasting as long as two years
before a separate state hearing agency, and all the while the doctor could have continued to practice as
a child psychiatrist.
The deal cut with Olmsted involves treatment and a fine, but it let him keep his medical license with
the restriction that he treats only adult males in group or institutional settings. The fact that he has any
kind of professional license at all leaves us aghast, but not nearly to the level as the psychiatrist's
victim and her family.
Changes in state law might seek to insert deferred adjudication as a license-suspension trigger, or
cases involving sex offenses may need to be expedited through the hearing process. We'll watch
Carona's conclusions with interest as he looks for ways to bring sense to the licensing process.
The spirit of his inquiry ought to be driven by the determination to hold state-licensed physicians to
the highest standard in Texas.
More information on William Olmsted is available on the Texas Sex Offender Registry.
It is estimated that at least 10% of psychiatrists sexually abuse their patients. This is certainly not an isolated incident. Like with most cases where psychs come under fire for their sexual deviancy and abuse of power, there was a virtual media blackout. Olmsted is now in the "psych tracker", and you will continue to be brought the latest news on this criminal.
Additional Sources:
Dr. William Olmsted - Child Psychiatrist - Convicted Child Molester - Allowed to keep his license
Child Psychiatrist Is A Child Rapist, Keeps License
Dr. William R Olmsted, MD Profile And Patient Reviews
Dallas child psychologist allowed to keep medical license despite molestation conviction
Texas Sex Offender Registry (Search By Name)
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