Former N.J. urologist gets life in prison for sexually abusing patients, including minors

A former urologist from New Jersey was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after being convicted of sexually abusing patients for over a decade, officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York said.
Darius A. Paduch, 57, of North Bergen was convicted on May 8 of six counts of inducing a person to travel to engage in unlawful sexual activity and five counts of inducing a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity after a two-week trial.
Paduch was a doctor at two prominent New York medical institutions, officials said.
Authorities did not say which institutions Paduch worked for Wednesday.
An attorney representing over 200 alleged victims in civil lawsuits related to the case told the New York Times that Paduch previously worked for New York-Presbyterian Weill-Cornell Medical Center and Northwell Health.
The attorney also told the New York Times that Paduch specialized in a genetic abnormality called Klinefelter syndrome.
“Darius Paduch was a sexual predator who preyed on patients seeking treatment for sensitive medical issues,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said. “He used his position as a renowned urologist at prestigious hospitals to sexually assault vulnerable patients, including children, to gratify his own sexual desires.”
Prosecutors said Paduch victimized patients inside and outside exam rooms for over a decade.
From at least 2007 until 2019, Paduch convinced multiple victims to travel to his medical offices at a Manhattan hospital and New Jersey so that he could sexually abuse them under the pretense of medical care, prosecutors said.
Authorities said that in 2019 Paduch started working at a different hospital in Long Island where continued abusing patients.
Paduch was accused by prosecutors of groping and touching victims, among many other things, that came to see him for complications associated with infertility, according to authorities.
At least one victim was invited to Paduch’s boat where he provided sedatives before sexually abusing the patient and exposing his genitals, authorities said in a statement announcing the sentence Wednesday.
“Paduch used his position at prominent medical institutions in New York to make or attempt to make the victims believe that the sexual abuse he inflicted on them was medically necessary and appropriate, when, in fact, it was not,” authorities said in the press release.
Paduch was also accused of inviting at least two minors to serve as high school interns, authorities said.
Eleven victims testified about being sexually abused during the trial and dozens more filed impact statements with the court during sentencing, officials said.
“Dr. Paduch maintains his innocence and we are confident that someday he will be vindicated,” Paduch’s attorney Michael Baldassare said Wednesday.
Baldassare said he planned to file an appeal as soon as possible.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Matthew Enuco may be reached at [email protected]. Follow Matt on X