Woman impregnated by doctor's own sperm awarded $5.25 million by jury in Vermont
A federal court jury in Vermont on Wednesday awarded a Florida woman $5.25 million($250,000.00 compensatory, $5 million punitive.) from a doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate her during an artificial insemination procedure in 1977.
Rousseau's attorney Celeste Laramie said in an email Wednesday after the verdict was announced the jury awarded the amount they had requested and the jurors found Coates' behavior "to be wrongful and offensive."
Last year, a Colorado woman also sued Coates, accusing him of using his own genetic material when he artificially inseminated her in 1978 at what was then the Central Vermont Hospital in Berlin.
The Rousseau lawsuit said they discovered what had happened when their now-grown daughter sought information about her biological father through DNA testing. The daughter determined Coates was her father, according to the lawsuit.
The Rousseau lawsuit said they discovered what had happened when their now-grown daughter sought information about her biological father through DNA testing. The daughter determined Coates was her father, according to the lawsuit.
Similar cases have triggered lawsuits and charges in Idaho and Indiana.
Rape by false impregnatiom
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Rape by false impregnatiom
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Re: Rape by false impregnatiom
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https://cbs4indy.com/news/indycrime/ind ... -in-court/Indiana fertility doctor used own sperm to impregnate patients, court docs say
Dr. Donald Cline, 77, pleaded not guilty Monday to two felony obstruction of justice charges for misleading authorities who were investigating complaints from two of the now-adult children against him.
Cline is accused of being the biological father of at least eight people, the youngest of which would be about 30. The accusations against him were first reported by WXIN-TV in May.
The 77-year-old from the Indianapolis suburb of Zionsville told six adults who believed they were his children that he had donated his own sperm about 50 times starting in the 1970s, a probable cause affidavit said. He had told his patients they were receiving sperm from medical or dental residents or medical students and that no single donor’s sperm was used more than three times.
One of the adult children took a saliva-based DNA test through a private personal genomics company and found that she was related to at least eight other people in its database, the affidavit said. Meanwhile, two others also investigated their ancestry through DNA tests and learned their mothers both were patients of Cline and that they were related to 70 relatives of Cline, it said.
The case turned criminal because in 2014 two of Dr. Cline’s donor children sent complaints to the state attorney general’s office.
Prosecutors say in response to the complaint, Dr. Cline provided an official written letter. The letter said, “I can emphatically say that at no time did I ever use my own sample for insemination,” and “in fact, if this woman is saying this or writing this I believe she is guilt of slander and/or libel.”
“The overriding issue is truthfulness,” said Marion county deputy prosecutor Tim DeLaney. “From our perspective the moment it got elevated to an investigation by the AG’s office, it was his obligation to tell the truth and he lied.”
As for his punishment, felony obstruction carries a maximum penalty of 18 months behind bars.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.