Upstate hospital doctor serving time in Cambodia jail may have been wrongly convicted of abusing boy

By James T. Mulder, The Post-Standard

http://www.syracuse.com November 15, 2012

 Dr. James D'Agostino (left) is escorted by court security personnel at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in November 2011. The court sentenced him to four years in prison. Heng Sinith / The Associated Press, 2011

 

State officials reviewing the case of a Manlius doctor imprisoned in Cambodia on charges of sexually abusing a teenage boy have raised doubts about the validity of his conviction.

Dr. James D'Agostino, 58, a former pediatric emergency doctor at Upstate Medical University, was convicted a year ago in Cambodia of child prostitution and exploitation after being accused of paying for sexual services from a 15-year-old boy. He is serving a four-year prison sentence in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

But a transcript of the doctor's Cambodian court proceeding obtained by the state Health Department shows D'Agostino was convicted after his accusers recanted their allegations against him and the prosecution found insufficient evidence to prove the charges.

Because of the criminal conviction in Cambodia, D'Agostino was automatically charged with professional misconduct in New York by a division of the state Health Department that investigates complaints against doctors and takes disciplinary action against them.

A hearing committee of the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct that recently examined D'Agostino's case questioned the validity of his conviction after reviewing the Cambodian court transcript. The committee discussed its reservations about the case in a decision published on the state Health Department's website.

 

Dr. James D'Agostino

The committee said the transcript shows D'Agostino's alleged victims testified they were coerced by police and teachers to provide false testimony about the doctor. It also said the prosecution sought to withdraw the charges because of insufficient evidence.

"... The Committee's review of the record lead them to seriously question the validity of the conviction," the decision said.

The committee decided to suspend D'Agostino's license to practice in New York, but give him an opportunity to appear before the board in the future if he wants his license reinstated and can present any mitigating evidence.

Neither D'Agostino nor an attorney representing him appeared at the committee's hearing in Albany in September. The committee said D'Agostino notified the Health Department by email he could not attend the hearing because he is in prison.

D'Agostino denied the accusations against him at his arrest last year.

D'Agostino, who came to Upstate in 1992, traveled to Cambodia in 2009 to volunteer at a children's hospital.

Dr. James D'Agostino, 58, a former pediatric emergency doctor at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, treats a baby in a hospital in Cambodia.Provided photo

Action Pour Les Enfants, a non-governmental organization that combats child sexual exploitation in Cambodia, began investigating D'Agostino in January 2010.

Under an agreement with the Cambodian government, APLE investigates and gathers evidence in cases of suspected child sex abuse, then turns that information over to the police.

An APLE official told The Post-Standard last year his organization became suspicious after learning D'Agostino was living in his rental home with a 24-year-old man and three boys. He said D'Agostino paid school tuition for the teenager he was accused of sexually abusing.

Cambodia used to be known as a place where Western tourists could easily buy sex with children. But pressure from activists in Cambodia and other countries prompted the government to start a crackdown in 2003, resulting in increased arrests and prosecutions. 

State Health Department’s order suspending Dr. James D’Agostino’s license