No indictment against ex-Oregon doctor accused of abuse

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Clackamas County grand jury has declined to indict a former suburban Portland doctor on criminal charges of sexual misconduct and abuse of patients, finding there isn’t enough evidence to prove the claims, the county district attorney’s office announced.

The grand jury heard testimony from 41 witnesses before returning a “not true bill” on the claims against Dr. David Farley, meaning prosecutors could not prove the allegations without a reasonable doubt, the district attorney’s office said in a Saturday statement reported by The Oregonian/Oregon Live.

Farley, formerly of West Lynn, still faces a civil suit filed by dozens of patients who allege sexual abuse during his work at West Linn Family Health Clinic, Legacy Meridian Park Hospital and Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center, according to court records.

In 2020, the Oregon Medical Board stripped Farley of his state medical license for dishonorable and unprofessional conduct and gross or repeated negligence.

That same year, a judge denied a request by Farley to postpone the civil case against him. The suit alleged Farley performed unnecessary pelvic exams and engaged in sexual battery while the plaintiffs were in his care.

Karen O’Kasey, Farley’s lawyer at the time, argued among other things that postponing the civil suit would protect Farley’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the police investigation.

O’Kasey was out of the country Sunday and couldn’t immediately be reached by telephone.

Farley abruptly announced his retirement in 2020 and moved out of state, The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported.