WESTLAKE : Physician Charged in Molestation Case

Ventura County authorities have charged a Westlake pediatrician with molesting a 13-year-old girl and four women during medical examinations, officials said Wednesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. William G. Karr said the charges against Stuart M. Berlin were filed Monday in Municipal Court, but the arraignment was continued until Tuesday.

Berlin faces one felony count of molesting the girl and six misdemeanor counts of sexual battery involving the four women.

Reached at his home Wednesday, Berlin refused to comment on the charges.

Berlin, 35, was arrested March 30 by Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies after a 27-year-old Calabasas woman accused him of sexual battery.

After being released on bail in Los Angeles County, he was arrested by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies on suspicion of sexual battery involving two more women, and was cited and released.

The doctor has been under investigation by authorities and by the Medical Board of California since October, when the state received complaints about Berlin from women who accused him of fondling them during medical examinations, said Janie Cordray, a spokeswoman for the medical board.

Cordray said the accusations were referred this week to the state attorney general’s office with a request to file for a temporary restraining order to prevent Berlin from practicing medicine. The court order is the first step in revoking Berlin’s license, she said.

Nancy Stoner, supervising deputy attorney general for the health quality enforcement section, said she is still reviewing the case before it is presented to an administrative law or Superior Court judge.