New Mexico Psychiatrist Mark Beale Charged with Sexual Assaults of Six Patients

April 14, 2019

Las Cruces (New Mexico) police arrested a local psychiatrist today who is accused of sexually assaulting at least six female patients over several years.

Psychiatrist and pain-management specialist Mark Beale, 72, is charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration, four counts of criminal sexual contact and three counts of battery. The alleged abuse occurred between 2015 and the present and involved women – many of them longtime patients – who ranged from 21 to 60 years old, according to the Las Cruces Police Department.

“In October 2018, Las Cruces police first learned of sexual assault allegations made against Beale,” police spokesman Dan Trujillo said in a statement. He said the subsequent case brought together investigators from the LCPD, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Metro Narcotics.

Among the allegations, police say Beale fondled multiple patients under the guise of an examination, told one woman she had schizophrenia and that the police were watching her, and urged another patient to leave her husband before prescribing her Viagra “for pain.”

According to a criminal complaint filed in Las Cruces Magistrate Court, sexual assault allegations against Beale, who operated a clinic in Las Cruces, began to mount in 2018.

One woman told police she had been seeing Beale for more than three years and, in that time, he told her “she was worthless” and “nobody loves her but him,” according to the court document. Beale then prescribed her Adderall to lose weigh “because he liked her thin” and offered painkillers if she would “cooperate with him sexually.” Police say Beale then raped the woman while giving her an Abilify shot for bipolar disorder, a condition she did not believe she had.

Another patient told police Beale assaulted her while giving her a shot and told her “he would take care of her” before giving her hundreds of dollars to help pay bills, according to the complaint. Police say Beale gave her less and less money until, when she asked for help, he paid her after she gave him oral sex.

One patient told police she confronted Beale after enduring abuse and unwanted advances for more than four years.

“She told him she forgave him for what he did to her,” an officer wrote in the court document. “He told her he did not do anything wrong and refused to apologize.”

Police say when the patient attempted to leave, Beale grabbed her and told her he was not going to let her go and “you are mine.”

Many of the women told police they were traumatized and had breakdowns due to the treatment by Beale, with one of them only able to see female doctors since.

Source: “Las Cruces psychiatrist accused of sexually assaulting patients,” Albuquerque Journal, April 13th, 201, URL: https://www.abqjournal.com/1302840/las-cruces-psychiatrist-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-patients.html