Leon Fajerman

NBC San Diego
South Bay Psychiatrist Guilty of Sexual Assault Avoids Jail Time
By NBC 7 Staff
January 18, 2019

— Excerpt

A South Bay psychiatrist who admitted to sexually abusing six female patients avoided a jail sentence Friday, shocking and angering his victims.

Leon Fajerman at first denied allegations he sexually assaulted the women during counseling sessions, but later pleaded guilty in October to felony sexual contact with a patient and misdemeanor sexual battery.

There were eight victims in all involved in incidents between October 2016 and July 2017.

Letters to Judge Frank Devaney written by Fajerman’s victims were read aloud in court. In them, the women explained how Fajerman ruined their lives by taking advantage of them at their most vulnerable time.

The letters described how Fajerman had destroyed the victims’ trust in doctors, left them with depression and PTSD, and, as one victim said, “Made my life a living hell”…

On Friday Judge Devaney said Fajerman’s health problems made him a poor candidate for custody and instead put him on house arrest for a year. Fajerman will also have to register as a sex offender for life and is prohibited from trying to contact his victims…