MIDDLETOWN — The woman looked Dr. Tory Westbrook in the eye and spoke slowly, with confidence.
Referring to him as “Mr. Westbrook,” she said he ruined her life by sexually assaulting her in an exam room.
“Each day is still a struggle,” said the woman, known to the court as “N.W.” She accused him of a “stunning abuse of power” as Westbrook looked back at her, frowning.
N.W. was one of nine women to attend Westbrook’s sentencing in Superior Court Friday. At the end of the two-hour hearing, the former Glastonbury man was sentenced to prison for 14 years for sexually assaulting 18 women from 2010 to 2012, and for Medicaid fraud.
A jury found Westbrook guilty of sexually assaulting five of the women after a trial last year. In May, he pleaded no contest to the additional charges.
He has given up his license to practice medicine in Connecticut and is barred from practicing out of state as well. He must register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
Westbrook, 46, agreed not to appeal his convictions. His full sentence is 20 years, suspended after 14, followed by 15 years of probation.
The women’s bravery in coming forward prevented the abuse of more women, said Peter McShane, Middlesex County state’s attorney. In all, he said, more then 50 women have been victimized by Westbrook. In many of the other cases, the victims declined to talk to police; in others, the allegations came to light so long after the incidents that the statute of limitations kept police from making arrests.
One of the women who never filed a police report was a University of Connecticut medical student who was sexually assaulted in 2004, McShane told Judge David P. Gold.
McShane, who prosecuted Westbrook with Assistant State’s Attorney Brenda Hans, described each sexual assault. Most involved inappropriate touching.
One woman came to Westbrook at the Community Health Center in Clinton for a rash on her neck, he said. Westbrook checked the rash, and “At that particular time, the defendant seized upon the opportunity to fondle her breast,” he said.
Westbrook pinched another woman’s nipples “for what seemed like five minutes,” he said.
The doctor used his fingers to penetrate a woman during an unnecessary pelvic exam, McShane said, and he performed oral sex on a woman at a laser hair removal clinic in Manchester, the Alluring Beauty Spa.
The women’s pain was obvious when it was their turn to talk. Some couldn’t do it and had Jeanne Barth, the victim services advocate, read their statements.
Some women said they now suffer from depression. One tried to kill herself. Another said she “self medicates with alcohol.”
“The memory resonates in my dreams,” N.W. said, calling the assault a nightmare from which she can’t wake up.
“As far as relationships go, I will never trust another man again,” another victim said. Westbrook, she said, “took advantage of his position as a doctor.”
Through Barth, one victim said, “I find it difficult to be intimate with my husband.”
A woman known as “W.C.” wiped her eyes with a tissue as she spoke to Westbrook directly: “I trusted you. … I just want to know why you would want to do that to people. I ask myself that every day.”
K.S. said she thought she was “crazy” after she was assaulted. “I would sleep for days, or just not sleep at all,” she said. “I’m disgusted, Just so disgusted. I hope you pay for that for the rest of your life.”
Christopher Morano, a former chief state’s attorney who represents several victims, said he was careful to keep the women separate before the case went to trial. That statement contradicts Westbrook lawyer Norman Pattis’ accusation that the women colluded with civil attorneys to sue his client.
“Today is probably the first time they have gathered in one place,” Morano said. The judge rejected his request to have the nine victims rise from their seats in the jury box, where they filled the back row.
Pattis submitted to the judge 15 letters attesting to Westbrook’s good character and pictures of him with his four children and ex-wife, a Superior Court judge.
In addition, four family members and friends spoke on Westbrook’s behalf, calling him dedicated to his profession, family and community.
Jessica Pettes, Westbrook’s sister, looked at the victims and started crying. She apologized for her brother.
“You deserve to be whole again,” she said.
Westbrook’s aunt, Catherine Williams, was less emotional.
“The charges are out of character and represent an aberration of his behavior,” she said. She ticked off a list of committees on which Westbrook served and awards he received, such as a health award from the Middlesex County branch of the NAACP.
She also said her nephew has asked God for forgiveness.
Westbrook apologized twice, saying, “I failed myself, my church, my family and my community.” A descendant of grandparents who lacked high school educations, he said he regretted leaving behind “a statistical single mother to raise our four kids.”
“With every fiber of my being, with God almighty as my witness, I am truly sorry.”
Gold said Westbrook wasn’t so contrite in an interview for the pre-sentencing report a few months ago. At that time, Westbrook referred to his victims as women with “insufficient health literacy,” he said.
Westbrook also declined to take responsibility for the sexual assaults, referring during the interview to “anyone who may have perceived your actions as harmful, as opposed to helpful,” Gold said, emphasizing the word “may.”
As some victims did earlier, the judge said Westbrook took advantage of his position as a doctor.
“That’s what makes this such a serious crime, because of the relationship between a doctor and a patient,” Gold said. “While Dr. Westbrook at the time of his crimes may have been wearing a white lab coat instead of a mask, and may have been armed with a stethoscope instead of a knife or a gun, the impact of his crimes is just as real.”
Gold said Westbrook knew that few women would dare complain about a physician’s behavior.
Turning to Westbrook, he said, “I think you failed to realize that there were some women who would be strong enough to come forward.”
Originally Published: September 19, 2014 at 10:53 p.m.
