West Virginia psychiatrist Joseph Jurand to register as sex offender

November 4, 2013

CHARLES TOWN - A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 9 for a Jefferson County psychiatrist convicted last month of having inappropriate sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl while she was participating in a Shepherdstown community theater group.

According to court records, 61-year-old Joseph Anthony Jurand, of Shepherdstown Pike, Shenandoah Junction, pleaded guilty Sept. 30 to one count of an indictment charging him with misdemeanor third-degree sexual abuse as part of a plea agreement.

The remaining counts of an indictment returned in May by a Jefferson County grand jury charging Jurand with two counts of felony third-degree sexual assault have been dismissed.

The binding plea agreement will see Jurand sentenced to a 90 days in jail, which will be suspended for five years of probation.

As a condition of his probation, Jurand will have to complete 500 hours of community service. He will also be required to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction.

The plea agreement bars Jurand from having any contact with the victim or the victim's family. Jurand has also agreed not to publish any account of the events leading up to and surrounding his indictment.

West Virginia 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge David H. Sanders ordered a presentence investigation be completed prior to Jurand's sentencing in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

The victim, now 17, told police she met Jurand a few years ago and said she had looked up to him because of her interest in psychiatry. She said she started getting to know Jurand more over the course of 2012 and said that Jurand would send her text messages and emails frequently. The girl also told police that Jurand helped run The Full Circle Theater Company in Shepherdstown and had a professional office attached to the theater.

The count of the indictment Jurand pleaded guilty to states that the inappropriate sexual contact occurred in April 2012.

Source: Edward Marshall, "Sentencing hearing set for Dec. 9 for psychiatrist convicted of sexual abuse," Journal-News, November 1, 2013.