Calling their case a “profound institutional betrayal,” seven former California foster youth have sued a pediatrician and Santa Clara County child welfare officials for sexual abuse they say they suffered nearly two decades ago.
Identified only by their initials, the plaintiffs accuse Dr. Patrick Clyne, former foster parent and chief pediatrician for the county’s foster care system, of inappropriately touching and penetrating their genitals during medical exams.
In a 40-page complaint filed on May 8 in Santa Clara County Superior Court, the former foster youth also state that child welfare officials failed to investigate alleged molestations in the late 1990s, and continued to allow him unfettered access to vulnerable children at clinics and a foster care shelter.
The lawsuit names Ken Borelli, a former deputy director of the county’s Department of Family and Children’s Services, and includes other still-unnamed county employees who it says failed to intervene.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Wyatt Vespermann said Santa Clara County officials made a deliberate decision to conceal abuse by a once-trusted pediatrician.
“Our clients are coming forward because accountability is long overdue,” Vespermann said in a Thursday press release. “What happened to them should never have been possible, and the people responsible — including the county officials who made deliberate choices to cover for Clyne — need to be held accountable.”
Santa Clara County officials did not return requests for comment. Clyne and his former attorney could not be reached for comment by press time.
Sexual abuse accusations have followed Clyne since 2001.
Dozens of foster youth and several boys who lived in his home when he was a licensed foster parent have accused him of inappropriate sexual contact.
While he has been the subject of several criminal investigations, Clyne has never been charged with a crime. But his ability to practice medicine has been under steady attack for years, and his legal troubles are ongoing.
In 2021, California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Clyne of “unprofessional acts” and “gross negligence” during medical examinations of several patients. As a result, last year Clyne surrendered his medical license and ability to practice in the state.
After he was fired from his job in Santa Clara County, he practiced in a private clinic for low-income and immigrant children near Watsonville, a rural community just south of San Jose.
“Our clients are coming forward because accountability is long overdue. What happened to them should never have been possible, and the people responsible — including the county officials who made deliberate choices to cover for Clyne — need to be held accountable.”
— Plaintiffs’ attorney Wyatt Vespermann
Late last year, one of Clyne’s alleged victims received a $5.5 million settlement approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The case centered on a former foster youth placed in Clyne’s home, who for decades told authorities his foster-turned adoptive father had repeatedly sexually abused him. Santa Clara County placed Kyle R. in the pediatrician’s home in 1996, at age 8.
A 2020 state law allows victims of childhood sexual abuse to file suit until age 40, permitting the legal claim to proceed.
Two other alleged victims of Clyne also filed suit in December. That case remains pending.
In the latest filing this month, the seven plaintiffs allege the county knew enough about Clyne’s conduct to take action, starting in 1996 when it received a report that described Clyne fondling a foster child’s genitals after “an incident involving an electric muscle massager.” Clyne later admitted to the act, court records state.
Last week’s complaint alleges that the county notified Clyne about a January 2001 child abuse report.
In 2001, a grand jury convened to consider allegations of sexual abuse by three foster children placed in Clyne’s home. He was well-known at the time, serving on the County Child Death Review Team and as a child abuse expert witness for the local District Attorney’s Office.
But the grand jury failed to indict Clyne.
A foster parent of a child who allegedly had been inappropriately touched by Clyne asked a county social worker to report him, the filing states. The social worker later told the foster parent she had not, “because he’s a very well respected doctor.”
That same year, a county worker testified that Borelli, who was then an emergency response manager, urged him to “stand down” from his investigation of the pediatrician, according to testimony transcripts included in the complaint.
But lawyers for the plaintiffs contend that instead of pursuing child-molestation allegations, the county allowed Clyne to remain as a trusted authority figure.
“When glaring red flags emerged, the County did not just look the other way,” the lawsuit reads. “It actively suppressed the truth.”
This month’s legal filing also claims Clyne used that public perception to get away with molesting many more children. The number of alleged victims who’ve been publicly identified now numbers more than a dozen. The complaint describes Clyne as “an indispensable institutional asset whose utility shielded him from necessary scrutiny.”
A foster parent of a child who allegedly had been inappropriately touched by Clyne during a medical exam asked a county social worker to report him, the filing states. The social worker later told the foster parent she had not, “because he’s a very well respected doctor.”
The seven latest former foster youth to accuse Clyne of sexual abuse say it occurred in routine medical appointments between 2001 and 2011.
J.M. was roughly 8 years old when she was examined by Clyne, according to court documents. They state that he told her to lie flat and raise her legs, while he touched her breast area and digitally penetrated her.
Lawyers for the foster youth also claim that in 2009, Clyne falsely told a foster parent of 9- or 10-year-old A.O. that vaginal examinations were “required by the County of Santa Clara” — even for children such as A.O., who had previously suffered the trauma of sexual assault.
“When glaring red flags emerged, the County did not just look the other way. It actively suppressed the truth.”
— Complaint filed against Santa Clara County, Ken Borelli and Patrick Clyne
In 2011, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office put Clyne on a list of witnesses who could have their credibility challenged in court. That led to the county terminating him from his job a month later.
And in 2014, the California Department of Social Services barred Clyne from serving as a licensed foster parent and working with children or adults in state-licensed care facilities. He was also prohibited from registering with TrustLine, a database for caregivers, nannies and babysitters who have cleared criminal background checks in California.
New allegations of abuse arose when he moved his practice to rural Santa Cruz County. A photo of him examining a child is still the lead photo on the Pediatric Medical Group of Watsonville’s website.
In 2019, the Medical Board of California and the Watsonville Police Department launched a joint investigation into allegations about sexually abusive exams and inappropriate prescriptions for his young patients. Ultimately, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney declined to press criminal charges in the case, citing the challenge of meeting a high burden of proof.
Plaintiffs in the newest lawsuit say Santa Clara County should have taken action earlier.
“This was not a tragedy of missed clues,” they write in the complaint.
