Psychiatrist jailed on allegation he raped patient during ‘exam’ at Aventura Hospital
A psychiatrist surrendered Wednesday to face an allegation he sexually assaulted a patient during private “exams” at Aventura Hospital more than two years ago.
Dr. Keun Lee has previously been awaiting extradition in jail in Bergen, New Jersey. Last week, he appeared in New Jersey court and under a deal with prosecutors, was allowed to post bond in exchange for agreeing to fly to Miami and surrender.
He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Wednesday on two counts of sexual battery.
Lee’s defense attorney declined to comment. Aventura Hospital, in a statement on Wednesday, said “patient safety is at the center of everything we do.”
“This individual is no longer employed with us and we have and will continue to assist law enforcement with its investigation of this individual,” the statement read. “Our concern continues to be for the victim, and we offer our support to her and her family.”
According to Florida records, Lee’s medical license was issued in 2018, but lapsed in 2020. At the time of the incident in 2019, Lee was a medical-school grad and resident — or doctor in training — at Aventura Hospital.
According to an arrest warrant, the victim was a 23-year-old woman who had been admitted to Aventura Hospital with a severe leg injury on July 8, 2019. Doctors operated on her and she spent more than a week recovering.
By July 17, 2019, she had been placed under the care of a psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Vassal, who was supervising Lee. That morning, Vassal and Lee completed a “brief visit” with the woman that included no physical examination, according to the warrant. But then later in the day, the woman later told police, Lee returned to “examine” her — using his bare hand to sexually assault her, police said.
The next day, the woman claimed, she received another private visit from Lee. She said that Lee began peppering her with questions about her sex life.
“The victim stated that the subject appeared overly intrigued and that he stated he thought she was very ‘interesting,’” according to the warrant by Aventura Police Detective Christie Worthington. He then told her she needed another “physical exam,” and she was again sexually attacked with his hands, the warrant said.
None of the “exams” were recorded in her medical file, police said. Aventura detectives managed to corroborate the woman’s claims by reviewing video surveillance of the doctor entering her room alone.
The woman’s surgeon and Vassal, his supervisor, confirmed to police that Lee “would have no reason to have over 40 minute long private visits with a patient” or be conducting any physical examinations on her.
After the case was reported to Aventura police, detectives tried calling Lee, to no avail. Investigators learned that he flew to his native South Korea in April 2021, and then returned in July 2021.
