× Pain Doctor Accused of Sexually Assaulting Patients Faces New Federal Charges
A Florida pain management doctor accused of sexually assaulting and drugging patients faces new federal charges in connection with alleged crimes in California and New York, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Florida.
Daniel Sandoval was a Miami-area pain doctor for more than 20 years, practicing a type of alternative therapy known as Reiki, meaning “life energy.” This therapy uses life force energy to treat pain and other health problems.
“Sandoval’s lack of credentials and knowledge of treatments failed to stop him from allegedly abusing patients in both California and New York,” U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch said in a statement.
Sandoval is being charged with sexually assaulting two patients in 2007 and 2010 in Nevada, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday.
One victim told the police that Sandoval first entered her home and aggressively performed sex acts on her as she relaxed on her bed, her mother told CNN affiliate KTXL.
When the mother asked her daughter about the sex act, the daughter said Sandoval performed same on her, the mother told KTXL.
The mother corroborated the girl’s statement, police said.
Sandoval, who surrendered his medical license in 2014 after being sued for allegedly performing Reiki on more than 350 patients in Miami, was charged with sexually assaulting both women, a charge that could carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the federal complaint.
He was indicted on Wednesday on three additional charges that include drug possession and sexual activity in a healthcare facility, the US Attorney’s Office said.
The indictment alleges Sandoval, using prescription drugs prescribed by him, performed sexual acts on at least seven women and gave them controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose between 2015 and 2018.
The new charges come just a few weeks after he was indicted on two felony counts of sexual battery. The first count carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
Police obtained video from a bank in California which allegedly shows Sandoval using hotel rooms in Nevada, Mexico and Florida to “entice women to perform oral sex on him or to have sexual intercourse with him while he drugged their drinks,” the complaint says.
“Sandoval subjected the women to various forms of sexual assault, including a claim of sexual enhancement,” the complaint says.
Sandoval’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. CNN attempted to reach the defendant, who is being held without bond at a federal jail in Florida.
