More Molestation Charges To Be Filed Against Honored Calif. Child Psychiatrist

Wednesday, April 11th 2007, 7:34 pm

By: News On 6

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) _ More charges will be filed Thursday against a noted child psychiatrist already charged with molesting three former patients, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Prosecutor Melissa McKowan declined to give further details but said more people have come forward since Dr. William Ayres was arrested last week.

``We have received a lot of phone calls from people over the last week saying 'Thank God. I thought I was the only one,''' McKowan said.

Ayres, 75, the former head of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, was barred Wednesday from practicing medicine and ordered not to contact at least 30 people who allege he abused them, including some whose accusations fall outside the statute of limitations.

Ayres is charged with 14 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 alleging he fondled three boys repeatedly between 1991 and 1996 while they were his patients. He has not entered a plea in the case and remains free on $250,000 bail.

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Kathleen M. McKenna signed an order preventing Ayres from practicing medicine until the case against him is resolved.

When asked if he understood the orders, Ayres said he had a hearing problem, but would rely on his attorney.

Defense lawyer Jim Collins did not object to either order. Ayres was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

Ayres, who retired last year, was honored in 2002 by the San Mateo Board of Supervisors with a lifetime achievement award for ``his tireless effort to improve the lives of children and adolescents.'' He served as president of the academy from 1993 to 1995.