Doc Acquitted Of Sex Attack on a Patient

55-year-old doctor was acquitted by a Brooklyn Supreme Court jury of charges that he raped a patient in October. Dr. Patrick Pitter, a general practitioner on Linden Blvd. in East New York, was cleared of charges of rape, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment after taking the stand and saying the attack had never taken place. Pitter's attorney, Mark Pollard, argued that the 36-year-old woman had brought the charges in hopes of filing a lawsuit and making a financial gain.

The defense also put witnesses on the stand who were in other rooms at the doctor's office at the time of the alleged attack and said they neither heard nor saw any sign of an attack. The jury returned the verdict Wednesday after deliberating for 2 1/2 hours following a seven-day trial.

"We are very pleased with the outcome," said Pollard. "We knew from the start that this woman was trying to use this case as Lotto at the expense of the criminal justice system."
Prosecutors said their case was hampered by the fact that the woman waited four days before filing the charges, eliminating the chance of recovering physical evidence of a rape.

She had charged that she went to the doctor's office for a Pap smear and that the doctor called her and told her she had to return for a second visit. On the second visit, he sexually attacked her, she said.