Southeastern Massachusetts pediatrician accused of sexually assaulting 15 patients, over 36 came forward to report experiences

BROCKTON – A Norwell man has been indicted on charges that he sexually assaulted fifteen patients in his care as a Pediatrician at South Shore Medical Center, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has announced. 

Friday, a Plymouth County grand jury indicted 68-year-old Richard A. Kauff on nine counts of Rape of a Child with Force, and eight counts of Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14. 

Kauff, who is out on $50,000 cash bail with conditions of release, out of the Hingham District Court, is ordered to stay away and have no contact with the victims, or South Shore Medical Center facilities in Norwell and Kingston. Additionally, the Commonwealth requested that Kauff have no unsupervised contact with children under 16, that he surrender his passport, remain in the Commonwealth, and relinquish his medical license. 

Since 1983 Kauff worked as a pediatrician and was most recently associated with South Shore Medical Center in Norwell. Kauff saw patients in both the Kingston and Norwell offices connected to South Shore Medical, until his retirement in 2022. On October 4, 2023, an anonymous person posted to a local Facebook group that they believed they were sexually assaulted during an annual checkup. Others replied to the Facebook post and urged the victim to report the incident to Norwell Police.

The following day, another victim reported to Norwell Police a similar incident. Both victims alleged the perpetrator was Kauff. After the Norwell Police Department sought charges against Kauff in the Hingham District Court, over three dozen individuals came forward to report similar experiences with Kauff. As a result, an extensive grand jury investigation was conducted to identify additional alleged victims and the viability of prosecution on charges based on the analysis of statute of limitations and other legal issues. After several months of investigation, the grand jury has returned seventeen indictments for fifteen different victims spanning twenty-three years.

Kauff will be arraigned on the charges in Superior Court at a later date. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham and Jeremy Kusmin and was investigated by Norwell Police.