In Brief: Women molested by Oregon doctor settle suit
THE DALLES, Ore. – A hospital in The Dalles and two administrators have settled a lawsuit brought by four women patients molested by an anesthesiologist while they were under sedation.
The Dalles Chronicle reported the amount of the settlements is confidential, but one woman said hers was six figures, even after attorney’s fees.
The case was to be tried this week.
In 2012, Dr. Fredrick Field was sentenced to 23 years in prison on abuse and rape convictions.
A dozen women have sued Mid-Columbia Medical Center. All but two suits have now been settled or resolved at trial.
A year ago, a jury awarded three women $2.4 million in compensatory damages. It found the hospital liable but determined administrators did not act negligently.
Man sentenced in child porn network
Federal prosecutors say a Seattle man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for downloading videos from websites that were part of an online child pornography ring run out of Louisiana.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite said Nicholas Saine was one of 10 people charged by the U.S. attorney’s office in New Orleans in connection with the file-sharing network uncovered by the federal “Operation Roundtable” investigation.
The investigation targeted the owner of the site and the 27,000 registered users of his websites. So far, 25 people have been charged nationwide in the investigation.
Prosecutors say Saine downloaded four videos but never uploaded any images of his own.
Crews try to oust persistent beaver
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – A road crew has had it with a beaver that persists in building a dam under a bridge.
Since August, crews have removed a beaver dam three times near Port Orchard, on the west side of Puget Sound. One was as large as 40 feet long and 3 feet high.
Kitsap County Roads Superintendent Jacques Dean told KOMO-TV that he appreciated how industrious the animals are, but the water threatened to undermine bridge abutments.
The county decided to spend $15,000 to hire a beaver trapper.