PITTSBURGH -- An ex-employee testified Thursday that she once saw Dr. Robert Boyda groping a female patient, and a young woman said the same Mt. Lebanon oral surgeon also abused her when she was under anesthesia as a child.
Boyda is on trial at the Allegheny County Courthouse, where prosecutors claim he fondled or sexually assaulted 17 patients ranging in age from 13 to 58 as they recovered from dental surgery in his offices in Robinson and Scott townships.
Channel 4 Action News' Bob Mayo, who was at the courthouse, reported that Boyda's former surgical assistant testified she once walked in on Boyda as his hands were on a female patient's breasts under the patient's shirt.
Another time that the employee walked in, Boyda's reaction was that of someone who had been startled, she testified.
And on another occasion, the former employee testified that Boyda could be heard saying, "That's it, that's it, now you do it" while she was in the next room. The lower part of his coat was moving when she peeked around, she said.
The woman testified that Boyda kept female patients in recovery for long time, while male patients were up and gone quickly. She started keeping a calendar of what she considered to be strange incidents and said she eventually left her job because of her concerns about Boyda.
Also on Thursday, one of Boyda's youngest alleged victims took the witness stand and testified that she was 13 when she awoke to find Boyda seated next to her with his pants partially down.
The alleged victim, who is 19 now, said Boyda was exposing himself and pressing her hand against his genitals, whispering "good girl" and "'at'a girl."
The woman testified that she couldn't move because she was sedated, and when she woke again, she was crying and her mother was with her.
The girl's mother also testified, saying that Boyda was "very charming" and "almost smiled" when she asked to see him after the incident with her daughter.
Boyda showed the girl's mother a book describing drug side-effects and told her that it had happened once before, and that he had discussed it with his wife and they were considering giving advance notice to patients about the possibility of drug side-effects, the mother said.
Defense attorney Bill Difenderfer said he will call expert witnesses to testify that the drugs used in general anesthesia can cause sexual dreams, hallucinations and out-of-body experiences.
The nonjury trial before Judge Anthony Mariani is expected to last for several more days because of the large number of witnesses.
Copyright 2009 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
