Dr. LaVar Withers, the retired physician who previously said his accusers were lying, has admitted he sexually molested patients for more than 30 years.
Withers will serve two months in jail and two years on probation - performing 10 hours of volunteer work a week - and pay $15,500 in fines.After more than a year of denying allegations that he sexually abused female patients, Withers pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor battery charge Monday. However, the charge referred to numerous victims in Bingham and Madison counties from 1965 through 1995, when Withers retired under pressure from the state Board of Medicine.
He agreed to the plea bargain Monday after being threatened with 16 new charges. Some 117 women had come forward to accuse him.
Ten women took the stand Monday before his plea bargain. For more than three hours, they described how Withers fondled their breasts, groped them and in one case committed rape during office exams or emergency room visits.
"I couldn't find the words to tell him to stop," said one of the victims, a 15-year-old girl molested two years ago.
Withers, stone-faced and arms crossed, told the judge and a courtroom packed with 40 people that the allegations against him are misunderstandings. He agreed there was a factual basis for the charges against him but suggested he was just being thorough in his examinations.
"In the effort to be diligent, things were overlooked in terms of consent and explanations," said Withers, married and the father of four children,
Magistrate Keith Walker of St. Anthony rejected the explanation.
"Frankly, I do not buy the account that these were routine examinations," Walker said. "I don't know how anyone could."
Walker also criticized medical officials, law officers, hospitals, religious leaders and other doctors in the Rexburg area for not acting sooner.
Withers was allowed to surrender his medical license in June 1995 amid a state Board of Medicine investigation. He said publicly he had retired and the board took no further action, saying it was satisfied because he was no longer practicing.
A criminal case against Withers foundered, with the state attorney general's Office recommending no action. But victims groups said investigators failed to interview enough victims.
Under pressure, the Madison County commissioners agreed to pay for a new investigation, headed by Special Prosecutor Dan Hawkley of Boise.
Hawkley quickly produced the first charge in the case, accusing Withers of abusing a 13-year-old-girl two years ago in Rexburg. He hinted that additional felony charges would be filed.
As a pretrial hearing approached, Hawkley met Sunday in Rexburg with several victims and their families, most of whom first approached the Rape Response and Crime Victim Center in Idaho Falls.
Most agreed to the plea bargain, he said.
But the deal appeared to have fallen through Monday, and the pretrial hearing started just before lunch. Hawkley identified five new young victims, including a woman now on a mission in Central America for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a teenager whose mother saw Withers abuse her daughter.
Withers and his lawyers finally agreed to the plea bargain.
"He's entered a plea to this charge because this thing needs to end," said Withers' attorney, Fred Hoopes of Idaho Falls.
At Monday's hearing, DeAnna Richardson, now homeless and living in a Chicago shelter, testified that Withers raped her in January 1980 during an office call for a severe cold.
"Then he kissed me on the cheek," Richardson said, speaking over defense objections, "and told me I was beautiful."
Sandy Brinton of Idaho Falls said she was abused by Withers 20 years ago when she went to him with a leg injury.