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Dentist denies he improperly touched a woman patient
DePadua is being tried in sex offense, assault case 

By Lisa Goldberg
Sun Staff
Originally published August 23, 2002

An Ellicott City dentist denied yesterday that he ever improperly 
touched a young woman in his care - although he did acknowledge 
that tests he says he performed on her earlier this year were 
never recorded in her medical files. 

Dr. Evan C. DePadua testified in Howard County Circuit Court that 
the 22-year-old Pennsylvania woman's version of the events that
transpired on Jan. 19 - including allegations that he pulled her 
pants down and rubbed her thighs while she was mildly anesthetized 
and unable to react - could not have happened the way she said. 

Although a question-and-answer form he filled out at the behest 
of Howard police investigators includes an admission that he 
touched the woman's thigh, but "not in a sexual way," DePadua, 
37, said a detective pressured him during an interview that 
lasted several hours to change his answer from his original denial. 

"They were threatening me. They were browbeating me," he said 
during the second day of testimony in his trial on fourth-degree 
sexual offense and misdemeanor assault charges. 

Closing arguments in the case, which is being tried by Judge 
Diane O. Leasure instead of a jury, are scheduled to begin this 
morning. 

DePadua, a Brazilian native who was first licensed as a Maryland 
dentist in 1997, was the last person to testify in a case that 
largely pits his word against that of the 22-year-old woman, who 
had been a patient of his for more than a year at the time of the
incident. 

The Sun is not naming the woman because of the nature of the charges. 

Statements critical 

As a result, DePadua's statements to police - as well as changes 
he made to his version of events and omissions in the woman's 
dental files - are expected to be critical as Leasure weighs the
evidence. 

Both DePadua, who practices in the 10300 block of Baltimore 
National Pike, and police investigators testified that when 
confronted, the dentist at first denied ever giving the woman 
nitrous oxide, then later told officers that he did. 

According to testimony, the gas dulls patients and makes them
"compliant." 

Also, DePadua wrote in the woman's medical file that he only 
tightened her braces Jan. 19, but he testified that he also 
performed a test for a jaw disorder and cut around two teeth 
that day. 

The woman said she told her husband and brother what happened 
not long after the dental visit. 

On Wednesday, she broke down after she testified that DePadua 
at first tried to pull her pants down while she was in the 
examination chair and then stood her up against a wall - all 
the while increasing the nitrous oxide flow - lowered her tight 
jeans and rubbed her thighs. 

DePadua broke a belt loop on her jeans during the incident, 
she said. 

The nitrous oxide made her feel "out of it," she said. 

"All I could do was stand there," she said, crying. "I was 
leaning against the wall. I was dizzy." 

DePadua's dentistry license has been restricted since the accusation. 

Practice restrictions 

The Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners declined last 
month to suspend him while the criminal case was pending but 
ordered that he not see patients alone, administer nitrous oxide 
or prescribe drugs. 

The order also includes details of complaints made by three 
other patients of inappropriate touching and comments and of 
an instance when DePadua is alleged to have left a sedated 
patient alone in an examination room. 

None of those complaints has resulted in criminal charges. 
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