South Carolina Psychiatrist Dieter Bartschat Sentenced on Obscenity Charge

August 10, 2022

On July 11, 2022, South Carolina psychiatrist Dieter Bartschat pleaded guilty to one count of communicating obscene messages to another person without consent. He was sentenced to time already served in custody (10 days) and required to register as a Tier 1 sex offender.

Bartschat, who was employed at the William Jennings Bryant Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina, was indicted on 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was arrested on the charges December 17, 2018.

On December 19, 2018, the South Carolina State Board of Medical Examiners issued an Order of Temporary Suspension against Bartschat’s medical license, pending further action by the Board. Though the Board’s order did not state a reason for the suspension, a December 17, 2018 news release issued by the state attorney general’s office announced “the arrest of Dieter Karl Bartschat (age 65) of Chapin, SC, on 20 charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor” and “Investigators state Bartschat possessed multiple files of child pornography.”

Bartschat had been scheduled to stand trial on the sexual exploitation charges on July 11th but entered a guilty plea to the lesser obscenity charge just prior to the start of the trial. The South Carolina Courts Public Index shows that the State Attorney General's Office subsequently dismissed the 20 sexual exploitation charges.

Bartschat is a 1982 graduate of Medical University of South Carolina. According to his bio on the "Psychology Today" website, sexual abuse is among the issues that he specialized in.

Source: "Chapin Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges," press release of South Carolina Attorney General, December 17, 2018; Order of Temporary Suspension in the Matter of Dieter Karl Bartschat, M.D., License No. MMD 36426, South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, Before the State Board of Medical Examiners, Case No. 2018-696, December 19, 2018; State of South Carolina vs Dieter Karl Bartschat, indictments 2021GS3206044 thru 2021GS3206053, 2018A3210800870 thru 2018A3210800889, and 2022GS3206108, Lexington County Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court Public Index.