South Shore pediatrician charged with sexually assaulting children for years

NORWELL − A former pediatrician at South Shore Medical Center in Norwell has been charged with sexually assaulting girls during their annual physical examinations.

Two former patients, both females, told Norwell police in October that Dr. Richard A. Kauff sexually abused them during physical exams when they were children.

Kauff has been charged with 13 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years old and four counts of rape of a child under 16 years old with force, police said.

One of the women said she was assaulted during exams from 1991 to 1998, and the other said they occurred from 1997 to 2004.

Latest total now up to 36: 12 more child sex abuse allegations against Norwell pediatrician

The allegations surfaced when one of the two women posted to a Facebook group called South Shore Mamas on Oct. 4, according to a police report. The anonymous post asked if it was normal for a doctor to digitally penetrate patients during routine checkups, according to the report.

Another woman replied to the post, saying that she had similar experiences at her annual physicals when she was a child. While exchanging messages, the women discovered they had the same pediatrician, Dr. Kauff at South Shore Medical Center.

More: Norwell pediatrician accused of sexual abuse. How to protect kids at the doctor's office

The women had never met or spoken to each other before, according to the police report.

The women met with Norwell police detectives separately and the two accounts share a number of similarities.

Both women reported being a patient of Kauff's from age 7 or 8 until transitioning to a general practitioner at age 18 or 19. Both women told police that the penetration occurred after Kauff had them lie down on an exam table.

Both women reported that Kauff would tell them to count to three just before inserting his fingers, telling them that "it's like a rocket ship."

Neither woman reported ever having complained of vaginal ailments or issues to Kauff, the police report says.

The women also said Kauff would abuse them even when their parents were in the examination room. They said he would use his large frame to block their parents' view of what he was doing on the exam table, according to the police report.

The women said they thought it was a routine part of pediatric examinations, having no frame of reference to determine if something was abnormal.

The woman who posted the question to Facebook told detectives that she recently began seeing a therapist and a conversation about Kauff arose during a session. The woman said she told her therapist that Kauff made her feel uncomfortable and violated and she described her experiences. The therapist stopped the session and told the woman she needed to contact police, according to the police report.

She met with police detectives Oct. 9. She told police she left therapy feeling confused and posted her anonymous question to the Facebook group Oct. 4.

Both women reported that after the Facebook post, they contacted older sisters who also were patients of Kauff. Their sisters told them that they did not have similar experiences during their annual checkups.

Norwell detectives contacted a pediatric sexual assault nurse practitioner, who told them that "an internal pelvic exam was not a normal or routine exam, nor should it be done at a routine pediatric exam," the police report says.

Detectives visited Kauff at his Norwell home Oct. 11 and informed him about the allegations. The police report says Kauff became "extremely upset" and said he had practiced medicine for 40 years without an issue. He told police he would come to the station to discuss the matter, according to the police report.

However, later that day Kauff contacted a Norwell detective saying he had obtained legal counsel and would not be coming to the station, the police report says. According to the report, Kauff will be represented by lawyer Richard Grundy.

South Shore Health released the following statement on Tuesday:

"We are deeply concerned by what we have heard reported in the media.  We are taking this very seriously and will cooperate fully with any investigation.  At this point, our focus is on how to best assist and support all of our patients, families, and staff.  We are also prepared to help the young women who have come forward with charges against this physician, a former pediatrician who is no longer affiliated with South Shore Medical Center, and will always be prepared to help any of our current or former patients."

Efforts to reach Kauff and Grundy for comment were unsuccessful.

Kauff is scheduled to be arraigned at Hingham District Court on Nov. 20.

In a South Shore Health blog post dated July 22, 2022, Kauff announced his retirement.

"I am getting ready to retire after a tremendously rewarding 39-year career as a primary care pediatrician," he wrote.

A South Shore Medical Center website says Kauff has been practicing for 40 years.

The state Board of Registration in Medicine website says he has an active license that was renewed in May and no history of discipline by the board.

The latest: Norwell pediatrician facing rape charges has a change in his medical license status

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Norwell doctor faces allegations of sexually abusing patients