A Toronto doctor who performed abortions for two abortion providers has been arrested in connection with a sexual assault case from several years ago.
Dr. Alexander Desmond has not been charged, and police say an investigation is ongoing, CBC News reports. Dr. Desmond also works at Woman’s College Hospital and is a regular visitor to Toronto’s abortion clinic.
“All this gives me pause to wonder if he’s going to be a regular welder in the medical field,” one Toronto resident told CBC.
In an interview on CBC, Scott Mialziewski (daughter of CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge) talked about her experience with Desmond, her father-in-law who has a long history with several Toronto abortion providers.
Mentioned by Radio Canada’s Debra Rosenberg in early 2011, Mialziewski and her family revealed the details of their story to reporter John Blackstone, adding that Desmond would often come to their home for dinners.
“There was no stopping him,” Mialziewski said. “We were never really aware of what he was up to because he had always covered his face and we never knew he had a clipboard.”
Desmond allegedly convinced Mialziewski’s mother to terminate her pregnancy in 2003.
Desmond has treated young girls on multiple occasions, including girls as young as 15, his friends in the abortion clinic told CBC.
Desmond faces a number of claims in connection with an alleged incident with a former complainant in 2006. According to a report in the Toronto Star, Desmond has also been accused by an unknown woman with whom he worked at Planned Parenthood clinic in Richmond Hill in 1999 and 2000.
The Toronto Star reports that while Desmond was born and raised in Toronto, he was a local regular at his mothers birthday party which was held on the patio of Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel.
“He never owned a gun,” Desmond’s friend, nurse April Smith said. “He never got into drugs or drank.”
Police officers were named by the Toronto Star as being at the media conference on Wednesday. They told the Star that due to their “sensitive” nature, they would not be releasing information.
Desmond is expected to appear in a Toronto court this week.
Sources: WCBS, CBC, Toronto Star
Photo Credit: Steve Krieger
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