PITTSBURGH -- Another former employee of a Mt. Lebanon oral surgeon accused of assaulting patients took the stand at the doctor's trial on Friday.
Medical assistant Sharon Laroche testified seeing Robert Boyda sexually assaulting a patient who was under anesthesia.
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 was in the courtroom.
He reported Laroche testified that she worked in Boyda's office for seven years but quit in 2007 because she "saw things she didn't like," Mayo reported. Laroche also testified she took a "big-time" cut in pay to leave the job.
Laroche testified she walked into the office's recovery room to have Boyda sign some papers in May of 2007 and saw him assaulting a patient, placing the patient's hand in his "private area," and moving it around.
Laroche said at first Boyda did not respond to her and that he "was sweating and ashen-looking."
She said Boyda then said, "She's seizing, get me some gauze."
Laroche testified the patient was not having a seizure and that she was very upset and threw the gauze at the doctor.
After police first started investigating the case, Laroche said she and the other employees called a meeting with the doctor's wife, Christine, who was also the office manager.
Laroche said they told her he was "back to the same-old, same-old" and "in with the girls alone." Laroche testified things changed for a while after the meeting with Boyda's wife. But she said after a few weeks, he was again "back to the same-old, same-old" and that he was back to being in the recovery room for long periods alone with patients.
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.
During the nonjury trial before Judge Anthony Mariani, the court has heard from several former patients who said they were assaulted and another of Boyda's former employees.
Previous Stories: - April 30, 2009: Teen, Ex-Employee Testify To Mt. Lebo Surgeon's Groping
- April 28, 2009: Surgeon Sex Trial -- Student Describes Waking To Molestation
- April 27, 2009: Patient: Mt. Lebo Oral Surgeon Molested Me, Said 'Shh, It's OK'
- May 9, 2008: Witnesses Testify Against Mt. Lebanon Dentist On Sex Charges
- February 1, 2008: Mt. Lebanon Dentist Surrenders On New Sex Charges Involving Patients
- January 31, 2008: Women Claim Assault In Dentist Chair; A Dream, Says Lawyer
Copyright 2009 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
