A Long Island pediatrician and civil surgeon has been arrested and charged with producing after child pornography after admitting to videotaping female patients—some as young as 11. After a raid on his office, police uncovered at least five videotapes of Dr. Rakesh Punn fondling patients, some of whom were blindfolded and naked. Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice said in a statement, "He victimized these trusting, young girls in the worse way imaginable." Investigators also believe Punn may have drugged some of his patients.
As a civil surgeon, Punn is authorized to give medical exams to immigrants applying for citizenship, and prosecutors believe he preyed on their innocence. In a police confession, he allegedly admitted to fondling nine patients for his personal pleasure. According to DA Rice, Punn would get footage in one of two ways. "First, he would have them get naked, lie on the examining table, and then covering their eyes with gauze and a blindfold, he would videotape his sexual contact with them. Investigators say that Punn touched and manipulated the girl’s genitals. In other instances, he would have the girl stand in his office, while a small digital camera hidden among objects on his desk recorded video. Punn would then have the girl expose her breasts in various positions while being taped."
Punn's attorney says that Punn did nothing wrong. He told WCBS, "Before I acknowledge that there are tapes, I want to see them and I want to understand how they were made—under what circumstances they were made, how they were secured, how they were seized." Punn is charged with Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child, Possession of a Sexual Performance by a Child, Possession of a Forged Instrument, and Unlawful Surveillance, and faces up to seven years in prison for each confirmed victim.
