HUNTINGTON, Ind. (WANE) The Huntington physician arrested nearly a year ago on allegations he raped a former employee will not serve any jail time.
Dr. John C. Mathew was sentenced Monday in Huntington Circuit Court to two years on house arrest after he was convicted of two counts of sexual battery. Mathew was arrested in June 2016 after repeated incidents of inappropriate behavior with an employee that began in July of 2014, about eight months after the employee had started working for Mathew at Huntington Medical Group.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office said that in 2014, Mathew committed battery on two separate occasion, and, in 2015 and 2016, he committed rape and inappropriately touched a victim.
The investigation began on January 21, 2016, a day after one of the incidents occurred, when an officer with the Huntington Police Department interviewed the victim.
Through the course of the investigation, which involved interviews with multiple employees, it was noted several times that Dr. Mathew had a reputation as being “touchy, feely” and that some employees had also reported inappropriate behavior on the part of Mathew.
A doctor who had worked with Mathew from 2002 to 2013 was also interviewed and told investigators that she was aware of an alleged incident of inappropriate behavior between doctor Mathew and one of his employees. Another former employee also claimed Dr. Mathew had her perform the duties of a nurse, even though she had been hired as a secretary. That person also claimed Dr. Mathew billed anywhere between five and eight patients that he had not actually seen.
In September, the Indiana Medical Licensing Board approved an emergency suspension of Mathew’s license.
Mathew pleaded guilty to the two charges in February through a deal with prosecutors that dropped additional charges of battery.