The Maine Conspiracy

DOCTOR BEWARE

      Why would a state government, county government, city government, local establishment, and a small group of fellow professionals conspire to get rid of a dentist? The age old proverb – money is the root of all evil. That’s why.

      Why pay three women thousands of dollars to lie about a professional? Competition. That’s why.

      Why would a state seek the revocation of a doctor’s license? competence or competition?  Read this bizarre story and you be the judge. Thank God it doesn’t happen to you.

      Male doctors have been the target of females either anxious to make money through litigation or anxious to satisfy some psychological quirk in their personality; they misperceive some verbal or physical action by the doctor as a sexual affront. Many male dentists have been charged with sexual assault by female patients under the influence of nitrous oxide and oxygen. Male doctors have been the target of jealous colleagues using female patients, paid or pandered to accuse. Here is but another bizarre example that should alert every doctor to what can happen to them.

      In Bangor, Maine, in 1981, 13 months after opening Maine’s first advertised general dental practice, Dr. Aaron Greenwald was charged with sexually molesting three female patients while treating them in his dental office. According to the women, the alleged molestation took place in 1976 and 1977. The charges were filed in Administrative Court. Civil not criminal. The State demanded a license revocation. None of the complaining women had ever filed a criminal charge. They did nothing until proselytized by jealous colleagues of Greenwald, and their cohorts, the Board of Dental Examiners, and the attorney general’s office.    

      The three women: Debra Candace Wallace, Barbara Jayne De Golyer, and Jennifer Ann Watson.

      Wallace stated the following in a seven page hand written, unsigned, undated, narrative: “My name is Debby Wallace, I’m 26, married, have three kids. A couple of months ago I encountered a problem that I think should be reported and if possible something done about it. It all started when I had a bad toothache which needed root canal therapy because of an exposed nerve. I was referred to Dr. Aaron Greenwald by another dentist in Bangor and an appointment was set up for ----. I went and had this work done. As I was standing by the office paying his secretary he (Dr.) started making comments about how nice looking and did I ever accept offers from Drs. I said “No.” During the comments he kept feeling my backside, saying I felt pretty good. All this in front of his receptionist. I was extremely embarrassed and left as quickly as possible. My next appointment was with the Adult Dental Clinic* at St. Joseph’s Hospital to have a permanent filling put in that same tooth. It was still sensitive so the Clinic sent me back to (him) (Dr.) to make sure the tooth was ok to fill before they did it. I walked into his office and sat in the chair (he) checked my tooth and said it was ok and would be sensitive for a while. During the check up (he) asked me casual questions such as, are you married? How many kids do you have? How old are they? Etc. Then he asked me why I had let my teeth get so bad. I told him because with three kids I did not have the extra money to keep them fixed. He asked if my husband was working and I said no. Then he started on little personal questions such as ‘Do I have free time to go where I want?’ I knew what he was getting at so I answered saying ‘I’m an adult. I don’t need permission to leave my house.’ He asked if my husband was jealous and I said he’s never had any reason to be. At this point I started to get very nervous because it was a very uncomfortable position to be in and I didn’t exactly know how to handle it. He left the room for a moment, I think for a phone call. I stayed in the chair because I didn’t know if I was supposed to leave or what. In a moment (he) returned and offered to fix all of my teeth for nothing. He said ‘He wasn’t too good doing fillings his specialty was root canals, but he would take his time and fix them all for nothing.’ I asked him why he would do so much work for nothing and he said he ‘didn’t like to see a nice-looking young person with bad teeth.’ I was still quite skeptical and asked him very directly and demandingly what he expected if I let him fix my teeth and he said he ‘liked me and maybe we could work something out if I could get out of the house.’ I said ‘no’ and he asked me ‘why, because I was getting a good deal’ I said I’d rather save my money and pay for the work when I could. I then asked him why me or did he make a play for all the girls. He said, and I quote ‘I admit, I’m hot for your body, there’s nothing wrong with that.’ I said, ‘except I’m married and so are you.’ I hope you understand I was in no way trying to encourage him. I was scared and was doing the best I could to tactfully turn him down without making him mad. Normally I wouldn’t care if he was mad but I was the only one there besides his secretary and it was quite obvious she knew what was going on and was paid to see nothing. How many dentists generally close the door to their office and tell their secretaries not to bother them? Also no one knew I was there except the clinic and I was envisioning all sorts of things that could happen. I started to get up and leave and he put his hand on my stomach and gently pushed me back in the chair and started to tell me that I was too nervous and uptight and a little overweight and a ‘good screwing’ would do me a lot of good. I was so shocked I didn’t say anything so he asked, ‘How about it, I have a nice private room in back and no one will bother us?’ I kept saying no and he kept asking why, insisting he liked me and he could teach me a lot, plus I’d get by teeth fixed. Just about then a male friend of his came in and when (he) overheard him talking to his secretary (he) opened the door and asked him to come in. After the friend came into the room (he) closed the door again. They left me sitting back in the dentists chair, (Dr) sitting on the stool between the door and I, and his friend standing at my feet staring at me. I knew they wouldn’t leave. (Dr) kept asking his friend to ‘look at me, what did he think, was I worth it?’ Then his friend started asking (Dr) how old I was, married, kids, etc, then decided I was all right. All this time I am terrified because I have no idea what they are planning except it involved sex. Finally, one of (Dr) patients came in. He had to leave to tend them, reluctantly. As he went out the door he said to his friend ‘sit down and keep her company’ I said ‘I have to go home.’ The friend said, ‘if your husband is home with the kids you can stay awhile.’ A girl who is 5’1 1/2, 110 lbs can’t just get up and push aside a man who is 6’, 190 lbs and leave. I was so scared I couldn’t think straight. The friend kept rubbing his hand up and down my leg above my knee telling me I was ‘too nervous and should relax and get to know him better.’ I kept pushing his hand away and saying no and kept trying to hold my hand and rub my arm, all the while interigating (sic) me. Questions such as, do I like sex movies, do I like oral sex, do I play around. Each of those questions went into personal detail, like the one about oral sex, ‘Have I ever done it to a man. Has any man done it to me? When, where and how?’ I just kept telling him I didn’t do things like that and wasn’t at all interested. Everytime (sic) I said ‘no’ he said, ‘I don’t believe anyone can be that innocent, but if you are, I can teach you a lot, how about it? You really will like it.’ It seems like all I did for an hour is say ‘no’ and it didn’t do any good. He kept asking me to go into the (Drs) back room with him or would I ‘like it better doing it a dentists chair.’ He thought it would be exciting. At this point he was getting worked up and took my hand and put it on the front of his pants and made me rub him. After a few seconds he unzipped his jeans and started to unsnap the top to open the front at the same time saying ‘You’ve felt how big I am now do you want to see how big I am. Have you ever had a man my size, you’d really like it!’ If I wouldn’t have sex with him would I settle for using my hand? I started to panic and I guess I raised my voice because he quickly got dressed when I said ‘will you please leave me alone and let go of me.’ He calmly said ‘ok, ok, I guess this isn’t the right time or place for you, can I take you someplace else for awhile?’ He even wanted my address so he could come see me and I wouldn’t tell him. He got up and opened the door and I walked across the hall to where the secretary was sitting and asked her if I owed anything for the visit and she asked the (Dr) and he said no. He came out of his other office, came up to me and said, ‘Are you two going somewhere?’ And I said ‘no.’ Then the harassment started again by (Dr G.) ‘Why not, he’s a real nice guy, one of my closest friends. You really would like him. You don’t know what you’re missing.’ As I opened the door to leave he said, ‘Think about the offer I made you.’ I was honestly nauseated when I left his office. I just can’t handle situations like that. Now that I look back I can see where I should have just got up and walked out at the beginning but while it was happening I was scared and I couldn’t think straight, and I didn’t dare give him a hard time. The more I tried to convince them that I didn’t play their kind of games and I didn’t care to learn, the more it became a challenge to them.   I never did find out the man’s name.”

     *The Adult Dental Clinic was a clinic for indigent adults founded by Dr. Greenwald in 1973. He treated Wallace on a volunteer basis through the Clinic. The patient’s fee was one dollar.

      Debra Candace Wallace – 30, married, mother of three, never employed. Drug user and drug dealer. Thief. Manipulator and predator. Born in a jail, the bad seed grew to be a human Venus Fly Trap.

     Barbara Jayne De Golyer – single 26, tall, slim, attractive. Employed as a victim/witness advocate for Penobscot County DA office. In a statement given to Marvin Ellis, investigator for the Maine attorney general’s office, “DeGolyer alleged that she went to Dr. Greenwald’s office for dental treatment [root canal therapy] in October, 1976. During the initial treatment, Dr. Greenwald intentionally and repeatedly touched her breasts with his hand. She did not consent in any way to this touching.”

     DeGolyer had a habit of hiking up her skirt when she sat down in the reclining dental chair. This brought no reaction from Dr. Greenwald. After completing the first root canal, she returned for another, for a total of six visits. She refused to pay for the second root canal. Dr. Greenwald sued in Small Claims Court and won a judgment. 

     Jennifer Ann Watson – single. 28, petite, attractive. Employed in student housing at the University of Maine. In a statement given to Marvin Ellis, investigator, “Watson alleged she went Dr. Greenwald’s office for treatment in November, 1977. During the treatment, Dr. Greenwald intentionally touched her breasts and thighs with his hand and made several suggestive remarks. Watson in no way consented to or encouraged such behavior. She then declined to return to Dr. Greenwald’s office for further treatment, whereupon Dr. Greenwald offered to exchange sexual favors, which she declined.”

     Dr. Aaron Greenwald – a New York City native, had relocated to Bangor in 1972. He is married with two sons. He practiced dentistry in New York City for 14 years, and at the time the charges were filed in February, 1981, for nine additional years in Bangor. Why would a man with a beautiful wife jeopardize his marriage and his professional career? And why only in 1976 and 1977? All three women stated that Dr. Greenwald’s secretary, Jeanette Watson (no relation to patient Jennifer Watson), in her early 40s, married, mother of two sons, and deaconess of her church, was inches away when the alleged molestations took place, aware of what was happening and did nothing. Why would three women conjure such allegations? Why did the three women do nothing until Dr. Greenwald presented professional competition by opening Maine’s first advertised general dental office?

     Let’s take a closer look at these three women.  

     When deposed by Dr. Greenwald’s lawyer, Wallace testified that she had been undergoing psychiatric treatment since age nine as a result of having been sexually assaulted by at least five men since age nine. Wallace said she recently charged another man with sexually assaulting her nine year old daughter in 1980. She also charged his brother with sexually assaulting the same child at age four in 1976, the same year she alleged Dr. Greenwald sexually assaulted her. She admitted to being on a cocktail of controlled substances including injectable Demerol and other highly addictive drugs, for treatment of headaches. Her visits to doctors and any providers she could con into prescribing the drugs and the drugs, were paid for by Medicaid. In the course of her deposition she committed perjury more than 20 times. Wallace admitted seeing an x-rated movie shortly after the alleged incident took place in Dr. Greenwald’s office. Her seven page story, quoted above, sounded like a sequel. But the State pressed forward.

     Barbara DeGolyer refused to be deposed, by eluding the sheriff who served the notice. No allegation was ever made to any authority with regard to her alleged sexual assault until Dr. Greenwald successfully sued her in Small Claims Court after he had opened Bangor Dentalcare, Maine’s first advertised general dental practice, in January, 1980.

As a victim/witness advocate, DeGolyer knew Wallace. But the State pressed forward.  

     Jennifer Watson was deposed by Dr. Greenwald’s lawyer where she unequivocally denied that the events the State’s investigator claimed ever took place. But the State pressed forward

     If you are perceived as a threat to a colleague this could happen to you. If the establishment in your community thinks you a threat this could happen to you. If a patient misperceives some action on your part this could happen to you. If you are one who desires change in your profession in a community that looks askance at change, this could happen to you. Bet on it. It will happen to you.