An Ohio abortion doctor with a history of abusing young girls has been charged again, this time with possessing and viewing child pornography, and a pro-life group is asking the Ohio Department of Health to investigate the clinic in which he worked.
Michaelis, 69, was indicted on charges of receiving and distributing child pornography and possession with intent to view child pornography. He is being held without bail in the Lucas County Correctional Center pending a Nov. 25 hearing.
During the time of the police investigation, Michaelis was working as an abortionist at the Toledo Women’s Center, which was ordered to close in July for violations unrelated to Michaelis’ alleged crimes, according to a report by Operation Blessing. But the clinic remains open pending an appeal of the closure order.
ToledoNewsNow.com reported that Michaelis has the rap sheet of a child predator.
In 1991, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison, but ended up serving only 60 days after pleading guilty to several counts of gross sexual imposition, voyeurism and public indecency, all involving girls that came to visit his young daughter.
But he only temporarily lost his medical license before he went right back to practicing as a gynecologist and abortion doctor.
His last known place of employment was Capital Care Network’s Toledo Women’s Center. A receptionist there told ToledoNewsNow that Michaelis has not worked for the company since May. His license was permanently revoked June 2 by the Ohio Medical Board.
Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy adviser for Operation Rescue, sent a letter dated Nov. 13 to the state health department asking for an investigation into clinic where Michaelis worked.
“I am asking you to order an investigation into the Toledo Women’s Center abortion facility to determine whether any patients, especially girls, were ever subjected to improper sexual conduct by Michaelis,” Sullenger wrote. “It is possible that other employees of Toledo Women’s Center may have information that could help your department to determine if violations took place.”
The letter further requests that any findings of abuse be promptly turned over to law enforcement.
Sullenger said this is not the first time an Ohio abortion clinic has employed questionable staff. A 22-year-old woman, Lakisha Wilson, died at Cleveland’s Pre-Term Clinic in March during a botched abortion. She was in her 20th week of pregnancy.
“The health department investigated, but we can’t get the report. We haven’t heard anything, so we’re a little disappointed; the medical board totally exonerated him,” she said of the Cleveland case. “It was badly botched, and the autopsy report said it was avoidable. She was not breathing for almost a half-hour before she was transported to the hospital. So, it’s just a little frustrating for us because on one hand the medical board is not going to do anything and the only other option is the health department, and they’re not releasing records so we don’t know what’s going to happen. I guess they’ll just forget about it, but I don’t want that to happen.”
A culture of secrecy
As for Michaelis, she said the medical board suspended him, “gave a little slap on the wrist, and he’s back at it. What was a convicted sex offender doing in an abortion clinic? People know this stuff on the inside, but they don’t say anything. It’s quite troubling, and if that’s the situation we would definitely like to see that abortion clinic shut down.”
Sullenger said abortion clinics, by their very nature, provide an environment conducive to sexual abuse.
“Abortion clinics, think about it, they create a perfect opportunity for sexual predators because the patient is vulnerable, is under anesthesia and there is like this code of secrecy,” she said. “So if nobody is talking, it’s open to anything you can imagine. If that’s the case, that should not be tolerated. We already know these clinics have a history of not reporting child sex abuse when brought in by their rapists, so it’s like a dirty little secret. If the health department doesn’t investigate and report it, this could happen again.”
