After 22 hours of jury deliberations, a former Eau Claire pediatrician was not convicted on any of the 16 sex-related charges against him. David Van de Loo was found not guilty last night on 14 charges — and a mistrial was declared on the other two counts because the jury could not agree on what to do with them.
The 61-year-old Van de Loo was accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with 15 patients — all juvenile boys — during medical exams. He was fired in late 2012 from the Mayo Health System in Eau Claire. The defense maintained all along that Van de Loo’s actions were part of his medical procedures, and he did nothing wrong. Prosecutor Gary King did not say how he would proceed in the wake of the mistrial. Defense lawyer Rich White said his client was vindicated.
The verdict comes at the end of a two-and-a-half week trial that was moved from Eau Claire to Superior because of heavy pre-trial publicity. Van de Loo’s court battles are far from over, even if nothing else happens in the criminal case. The doctor still faces 22 civil lawsuits.
WAYY
