News
Orthodontist charged over Internet chats
Published: Sep 20, 2004 - 05:57 PM
King County prosecutors charged a Covington orthodontist yesterday with engaging in sexually explicit Internet conversations with several girls, including three current or former patients, and with dealing child pornography. Marc Joondeph, who operates out of an office on Kent-Kangley Road, was arrested in April and released soon after, pending the outcome of the investigation. His arraignment is set for Sept. 30.
Prosecutors allege that Joondeph found his way onto several Internet chat rooms where his patients were talking, introduced himself as "spiderx8489," and began chatting with the girls. Three of the four victims were 11 when the incidents occurred and one was 16, according to court papers.
Joondeph hinted at who he was, prosecutors allege, to the point where the girls determined it was him. He addressed the girls with nicknames, according to the court papers and went further.
"(The girl) wasn't really sure if it really was Joondeph, but he seemed to know a lot about her, specifically that she had just been into the orthodontist office for a visit," wrote Detective Roxanne Bauer with the King County Sheriff's Office in charging papers. "He asked her how her teeth were feeling and said he knew she'd just been in. Spiderx8489 called (the girl) 'cutie' and 'sweetie,' and told her she's hot as she was about to sign off of the computer."
At one point, during a chat with a friend of one of his patients, Joondeph asked whether he could have cyber-sex with her. In another instance, he asked the same girl about her undergarments, court documents say. The girls informed their parents, who called police.
According to Bauer, interviews with Joondeph's assistants confirmed that he had told them that he had inappropriate electronic conversations with a patient.
Office workers told police, according to the statement, that Joondeph used his cell phone to send and receive text messages constantly throughout the day.
"The office staff has noticed that if Joondeph is in the middle of an appointment when he receives a text message," the charging papers say, "he rushes to finish with his patient so he can check his telephone and respond to the message."
After police arrested Joondeph on April 27 and searched his computers, they found more than 10,000 depictions of child pornography, prosecutors said in charging papers.
Joondeph could not be reached for comment late yesterday.
Joondeph hinted at who he was, prosecutors allege, to the point where the girls determined it was him. He addressed the girls with nicknames, according to the court papers and went further.
"(The girl) wasn't really sure if it really was Joondeph, but he seemed to know a lot about her, specifically that she had just been into the orthodontist office for a visit," wrote Detective Roxanne Bauer with the King County Sheriff's Office in charging papers. "He asked her how her teeth were feeling and said he knew she'd just been in. Spiderx8489 called (the girl) 'cutie' and 'sweetie,' and told her she's hot as she was about to sign off of the computer."
At one point, during a chat with a friend of one of his patients, Joondeph asked whether he could have cyber-sex with her. In another instance, he asked the same girl about her undergarments, court documents say. The girls informed their parents, who called police.
According to Bauer, interviews with Joondeph's assistants confirmed that he had told them that he had inappropriate electronic conversations with a patient.
Office workers told police, according to the statement, that Joondeph used his cell phone to send and receive text messages constantly throughout the day.
"The office staff has noticed that if Joondeph is in the middle of an appointment when he receives a text message," the charging papers say, "he rushes to finish with his patient so he can check his telephone and respond to the message."
After police arrested Joondeph on April 27 and searched his computers, they found more than 10,000 depictions of child pornography, prosecutors said in charging papers.
Joondeph could not be reached for comment late yesterday.
