South L.A. doctor charged in sexual-assaults case

A South Los Angeles physician was jailed Monday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a number of female patients, including a 15-year-old girl and an undercover LAPD officer, authorities said.

Dr. Kevin Brown, 37, who has won local notice for organizing charity fundraisers at the Playboy Mansion, allegedly molested eight patients over a two-year period. In court documents, authorities said Brown, who is being held on $4-million bail, is also being investigated by the state for "multiple healthcare fraud schemes and overprescription of Oxycodone." He has not been charged in connection with that inquiry.

In court documents, prosecutors requested unusually heavy bail, noting that Brown, whose father heads the government of Bermuda, might attempt to flee there. Brown was arrested at his Los Angeles home Monday morning by Los Angeles Police Department detectives. The arrest came after several women contacted authorities and accused Brown of sexually battering or raping them during medical examinations, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Ann Marie Wise, of the sex crimes division.

Brown faces 19 felony counts, including a lewd act on a 15-year-old, rape, sexual battery by fraud and sexual exploitation. The alleged assaults occurred between Nov. 6, 2006, and May 31, 2008. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in state prison.

At the time of his arrest Monday, Brown was free on bail for a previous sexual assault arrest. On July 8, police booked Brown on suspicion of assaulting an 18-year-old woman in June 2007, as well as a female undercover officer who posed as a patient. Those assaults allegedly occurred at his Crenshaw Boulevard office, police said. In addition to his practice, Brown is best known for operating a medical disaster relief charity that holds celebrity poker fundraisers at the Playboy Mansion every year.

While LAPD detectives were investigating Brown for the alleged sexual assaults, state medical fraud investigators have been examining his role in an alleged healthcare fraud scheme, according to an affidavit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The affidavit also reported that the state Department of Justice suspects Brown of overprescribing painkillers.

Special Agent J. Timothy Fives of the state Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse unit said he believed Brown was involved in multiple healthcare fraud schemes and in overprescribing painkillers. He said Brown came to his attention during a larger investigation of clinics run by people of Russian and Armenian descent.