UPDATE 2: Dr. Mark K. Anderson
WOODLAND DENTIST ORDERED TO SERVE 6 YEARS IN SEX ABUSE CASE
by Hudson Sangree, The Sacramento Bee
April 25th, 2009– Before Dr. Mark K. Anderson was led away in handcuffs Friday to begin serving six years in state prison, the Yolo Superior Court judge who sentenced him said he couldn’t reconcile the two sides of the Woodland dentist convicted of molesting female patients.
There was the devoted family man, church elder and healer, who provided free dental care to indigent patients. He lived with his wife and children in a Victorian house in historic Woodland.
And then there was the man Judge Stephen Mock called “a serial sexual offender,” who abused his standing in the community and his patients’ trust by groping them in his dental chair.
In a packed courtroom Friday afternoon, Mock said he had read reams of materials in preparation for the sentencing, including a probation report, a psychological evaluation and dozens of letters from Anderson’s supporters.
Add to that weeks of trial testimony, and Mock said he had learned more about Anderson than any other defendant who ever appeared before him.
Yet, he said, “when I ask myself who is Mark Anderson, I can’t answer that question.”
Supporters’ letters described Anderson, 49, as an outstanding member of the community, Mock said. “But I don’t know who that man was who molested those women,” he said.
What Mock did know, he said, was that Anderson had chosen to molest female patients “over and over and over again,” and deserved a prison sentence that was two years more than probation officers had recommended.
Earlier Friday, Anderson offered a tearful explanation: He insisted – as his lawyer had at trial – that he was trying to relieve jaw and muscle pain from temporomandibular joint disorder. But, he said, some patients misunderstood his clumsy efforts at physical therapy.
His voice breaking with emotion, Anderson begged the judge for mercy for himself and his family, and said he knew in his heart he had committed no crimes.
“What I did was an honest attempt to help my patients,” he said. “I am truly sorry I committed acts that made them feel abused by me.”
The dentist’s victims offered a completely different version of what happened. As they addressed the court, Anderson sat hunched and tense, looking down at the table.
They described how Anderson would begin by massaging their necks, and then suddenly he would reach into their bras, leaving them shocked and disgusted – and afraid to report him.
In September 2007, Candis Barajas was the first of Anderson’s victims to report him to police. On Friday, Barajas said she wanted Anderson to acknowledge his wrongdoing and apologize to the women “whose minds and bodies he so selfishly violated.”
Tanya McKay had been friends with Anderson and had been his family’s mortgage broker.
By fondling her and making comments about her chest, Anderson had destroyed their friendship and working relationship, she said.
He’d made his victims relive their humiliation in court, she said, and “you put your family through hell.”
McKay pleaded with the judge to consider the number of people Anderson had harmed and asked him to consider how he would feel if it had been his wife or daughter who had been molested.
“Please show all women that we are worthy of justice,” she said.
Anderson’s defense lawyer, Michael Rothschild, urged the judge to sentence the dentist to probation. He said his client could be rehabilitated through therapy for sex offenders.
“What happened doesn’t fit with everything else we know about Mark Anderson,” Rothschild said.
He said the dentist had lost his career, and “much of his accumulated wealth is in my trust account,” the lawyer said.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Gorman told the judge Anderson didn’t deserve leniency. “His arrogance, his complete denial of wrongdoing, does not warrant any mercy from this court,” he said.
After a lunch break in the four-hour hearing, Mock said two factors had contributed to his decision.
First, as a medical professional, Anderson had harmed his patients.
Second, Anderson was warned to stop. The judge said McKay had written to Anderson in May 2006 saying what he’d done to her was wrong and had threatened to go to police if she heard of similar incidents.
“And yet he chose to continue,” Mock said.
After pronouncing sentence, Mock ordered Yolo County sheriff’s deputies to take Anderson into custody.
The dentist’s victims finally got their wish to see him in handcuffs. Since his arrest in 2007, he had been free on his own recognizance and had never spent a full night in jail. The judge let him go home after he was convicted March 10 of a dozen counts of sexual battery.
Anderson could be eligible for parole in three years, prosecutors said. He will have to register for the rest of his life as a sex offender.
Afterward, several jurors who attended the sentencing hearing left without comment. Anderson’s wife and seven children left through a side entrance.
Outside the courthouse, Barajas, McKay and other victims told the media they still couldn’t believe their longtime dentist had molested them.
They said Anderson had cried not for his victims, but for himself, and the harm he had caused his family.
“That’s his cross to bear,” McKay said. “And he’s going to have a long time to think about it.”
A big thumbs up to RAC for tipping us off that the good doctor had been sentenced. We might have missed it completely if it wasn’t for you.
17 Comments »
Shit, Max, You are fast! Anderson cried for himself because he got caught. What a little bitch.
Yeah, wasn’t that sad?
Rub your thumb and fore finger together – You know what that is? It’s the world’s smallest violin playing “My Heart Bleeds For You”, and it’s playing it just for Doc Anderson…..LoL.
Gee Max, that was just beautiful. Could you play it again? I don’t think RAC heard it >:)
Ah. Boo-Hoo!!!!!!! Prisoners don’t look too kindly to scum like him.
As a Licensed Massage Therapist of ten years, (Yes, I’ve have a lot of different jobs) I can tell you that there is absolutely no way to ‘slip’ and fondle someone’s breast–especially working the Temporal Mandibular Joint (TMJ). The joint is way up by the ear/temple area and not the chest. Even if he was working the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle in the throat, there is no way to end up even near the breast.
So, his excuse of ‘clumsy’ physical therapy work is total bullshit!
He deserves much more prison time for violating the Doctor/Patient bond. Patients put their trust in the DDS and allow themselves to be extremely vulnerable. To violate that is worthy of severe punishment.
Thanks for the inside information Matty. Most of us suspected he was lying, but it’s good to have it confirmed by an expert. I’m a firm believer in the theory that says if something doesn’t make sense, it’s most likely not true.
My home town ! I pass by his house every day. Fucking creep.
He was a chuch elder and he committed a sexual crime. That has never happened before!!
“His voice breaking with emotion, Anderson begged the judge for mercy for himself and his family, and said he knew in his heart he had committed no crimes.”
I hope some guy massages his TMJ in prison, if you know what I mean. *nudge nudge*
If he weren’t such a cheap bastard, he could have come to New Haven – they have some real ugly hookers, so I imagine they work at rather reasonable rates. channel 8 posted 4 picks and only 1 looked like she could make a profit!
Even Ansonia / Derby has a few where $20 gets a lot!
Pffft. This guy didn’t commit a crime. Don’t you all know about the recent law that was passed, which states quite clearly in section 58008: “All dentists are entitled to extra boob touches if they’re otherwise not sucky at dentisting.”? It’s a new thing to get more people interested in becoming dentists. Dentist = MOAR BEWBZ!
Sicko. If he’d tried that with me, I’d have broken his damn wrists then slapped him so hard his grandchildren would have palm-shaped birthmarks on their faces.
He should look at the bright side – plenty of moobs in prison!
Man boobs – yeah baby! Thanks for the laugh VCBecky, this comment really cracked me up……
Good thing the women weren’t having cramps. Who knows what kind of ‘massage’ they would have received.
But- you learn something new every day. I didn’t know that only women suffer from TMJ, but this case seems to imply that. Either that, or the good dentist was not providing his male clients the same high degree of dental care as the women.
Mark Anderson is only sorry because he got caught and he feels sorry for himself. He’s not sorry about the things he did. He would still be abusing women if he had not been caught.
I hope that these women can heal from the abuse they suffered because of Mark Anderson. I also hope that Mark Anderson’s wife, children, and other family members can carry on with their lives and not be condemned by society because of Mark Anderson’s actions.
*hugs Corset Lass* I missed you! I was so happy to see your intelligence grace my screen once more.
Absolutely, he only cried because he got caught. He couldn’t grope women any more, boo-hoo. I can still hear the sweet refrains of Max’s tiny violin playing that old favorite “Cry Me a River….”
A relative was a victim, twice: once from the good doctor and second from community (his church) defending him and condemning through the media those several women who came forward.
Now government empowered TSA agents can molest men, women and even children in US airports – doing the exact same thing Mark Anderson did – and more – fondling breasts, genitals, even taking full naked photos – and without any fear of being arrested for sexual molestation and abuse. See when you, me, or a dentist does this, it’s illegal; when the government does it, it’s for your “protection.”