REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A judge has ruled that a once-prominent child psychologist charged with molesting former patients should not be released from a state mental institution.
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge John Grandsaert on Thursday denied 80-year-old Dr. William Ayres' request for release from Napa State Hospital.
The San Mateo County Times reports (http://bit.ly/IIuArk ) that Ayres' lawyers said his mental state had deteriorated quickly.
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge John Grandsaert on Thursday denied 80-year-old Dr. William Ayres' request for release from Napa State Hospital.
Ayres — the former president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry — was committed to Napa after a jury in his 2009 trial on nine counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor under 14 failed to reach a verdict.
Ayres was arrested in 2007 after accusations from at least 11 men who said he touched their genitals during therapy when they were boys.
___
Information from: San Mateo County Times, http://www.sanmateotimes.com