Sex Offender/Abortionist Finkel Sentenced

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Abortionist Brian Finkel was sentenced to almost 35 years in prison and 99 years probation to begin when his incarceration ends, after a tearful speech in which he assured the court that he never committed sexual abuse. "Because I am exercising my right to appeal doesn't mean I don't feel guilt. " said Finkel, when asked by the judge if he had any remorse, " I feel guilt that the victims were so traumatized by the trial. "  He also said  that he was remorseful for not understanding the victims' needs.  "I was constantly being terrorized by domestic terrorists." explained the abortionist. "I am not Dr Welby," he said, referring to the 1960's TV show, " stating that he may have been more blunt or even rude, at times, to the victims when he "counseled them about their bad relationships and poor life choices." Dr Finkel also stated that he cared about every one of his patients and was sorry that his efforts to examine them thoroughly had been misunderstood by the victims.  Finkel then stopped rather abruptly, telling the court that his attorney said he was done. 

Finkel's attorney added briefly that Dr Finkel had not done anything that any other gynecologist does not do in the course of an examination.  He also cited "mitigating circumstances" of Finkel operating in a stressful environment reminding the court that Finkel had helped thousands of women during the course of his career.  Finkel added tearfully at this point that he was sorry he had embarrassed his wife of 31 years and his children and that he hoped to be reunited with them soon.

Presiding Judge Cates did not buy the mitigating circumstances. "I don't know of any 'Domestic terrorists', " he said, adding that the victims had been traumatized by what Finkel had done to them and NOT by the trial which he felt had been conducted well.  He complimented the work of the jury, saying they had listened carefully to all the evidence.  "I was ready to accept whatever the jury decided" said the Judge, "and they decided you are guilty of the 22 counts."  He added that what Finkel had done in course of his examinations had NOT been in the framework of gynecology and that Finkel had violated one of the most sacred trusts in our society, the trust between a doctor and his patient.    Addressing the "mitigating circumstance" of no prior criminal history, the judge said this would be negated by the fact that Finkel had been committing these crimes over a 15 year period and just had not gotten caught previously.  He quipped that he didn't feel Finkel was declared guilty because of being rude - were that the case, he would have been found guilty of all 66 counts!  Finally, the judge stated he did not feel that Finkel was the victim of any political agenda.

"On the positive side, " Judge Cates said, "I don't feel Finkel is a danger to the community if he is not practicing medicine."  That being said, the judge reminded the court that Finkel had caused grave emotional and physical harm to his victims causing depression and fear.  He did not feel that he saw any remorse in Finkel, commenting that "this does not look well for rehabilitation".

Judge Cates patiently assigned a prison sentence to each count of sexual abuse, identifying all counts as a class 5 felony.  Some of the conditions of the lifetime probation called for Finkel not being allowed to drink any alcoholic beverages, the payment of a probation fee of $50 a month (for life), being required to register in the national database as a sexual offender, not being allowed to work at all in the medical field, and being required to inform any future employer of his conviction as a sexual offender.

Finkel then stood by the bailiff, dressed in his wrinkled stripped prison outfit, his feet chained together as he waited for them to take him away to jail. (A request by his attorney to allow him to dress in a suit had been denied.)  Without his expensive suit and dyed hair, he did not have his usual dapper appearance.  He had dropped some of his cocky demeanor but did not seem overly upset.  He will remain in the city jail for two weeks or so before being transferred to prison.  His attorney was busy obtaining the papers to fill out, to appeal the decision.

The atmosphere in the courtroom was tense.  The observers seemed to be mostly victims and press.  Finkel's wife sat in the front row, flanked by two physician friends.  They joked loudly before the sentencing, one of the physicians saying in a somewhat booming voice, "My bets are he walks in 6 months" (the other physician shook hands with him on this).  Their jovial attitude seemed to leave them as they listened, grimfaced, to Finkel's sentencing.  Finkel's wife cried when Finkel said he was sorry to have embarrassed them.  One could almost feel sympathy for her except for the knowledge that she ran the clinic with him and that she had to be aware of what he had been doing for all these years.  She is a somewhat stocky attractive middle woman and after the trial, she was again joking with her friends.

Blaine, one of the prosecuting attorneys, said he felt the trial went well and was very pleased with the sentence and that he appreciated how Judge Cates considered each count separately.

"This started out to be a 3 hour procedure, " one of the victims told the court before the sentencing, "and it has now drawn out to be 7 years and will probably last for a lifetime. I don't think Dr Finkel knows how many people he has hurt."

"I don't think he got enough time, " said Stephanie, after the trial. Stephanie is sister to Rise, one of the victims. "He could be back on the streets again," she told me, adding that "He is a sick pompous man who still doesn't understand what he did and how he has affected the lives of the victims.  It's been 7 years since my sister saw him and she still to this day, can not go to a gynecologist as she is so afraid of doctors, because of what Finkel did to her."

Finkel may not have much hope for a successful appeal as Judge Cates' fair and careful handling of this case would seem to make a reversal of the verdict highly unlikely.

"I hope he dies in prison," said one victim, acidly, only for a moment conveying the deep suffering resulting from her encounter with Finkel which will likely last a lifetime.

Finkel is one of the worst sex offenders among abortionists, having sexually abused at least 100 women (those who came forward). It is estimated that far more women who were abused by Finkel did NOT come forward to tell about it.

However, sexual offense among abortionists is more common than the public generally thinks.  Mark Crutcher in his book, LIME FIVE, details several documented cases of abortionists who sexually molested women who came to them for abortions.