A Valencia doctor was ordered last month to surrender his medical license after he was accused of sexually assaulting three of his male patients in a span of six years.
The doctor, identified as Gregory Castillo, is alleged to have assaulted at least one of his patients at the Facey Medical office on McBean Parkway in 2019, according to the lawyer for one of the victims.
In a complaint filed earlier this year with the Medical Board of California, Department of Consumer Affairs, Castillo is alleged to have sexually assaulted three male victims — whose names were listed under the monikers Patient 1, Patient 2 and Patient 3 — between October 2013 and June 2019.
Facey Medical Group had terminated Castillo’s privileges on July 29, 2019, according to legal documents acquired by The Signal on Wednesday. Following the state medical board’s own two-year investigation, Castillo was ordered to surrender his medical license on Oct. 19 of this year.
Case Barnett, the lawyer representing Patient 2, said he had already filed a civil lawsuit against Castillo, as well as Facey Medical Group and Providence Health and Services, listing various allegations, including sexual battery, sexual harassment and negligence.
“Doctors have a level of trust that other people in a community do not have, and it’s an absolute violation of trust,” Barnett said Wednesday. “Sexual assault is forever life-changing; you’ve taken something from a person that can’t be taken back, as hard as an individual, like my client, has worked to get himself in a position to move on from this.”
When contacted by The Signal on Wednesday, Castillo’s medical board hearing lawyer, Nicholas Jurkowitz, declined to comment. Multiple calls left with Facey Medical Group on Wednesday were left unanswered as of the publication of this story.
A criminal investigation into Castillo has not been announced, according to Barnett. However, his client’s civil trial against the former doctor is set for June 6, 2022, in Chatsworth.
The Allegations
According to the investigation filed by the state medical board, Patient 2, who was approximately 25 years old at the time of the incident, met with Castillo on May 28, 2019, for a physical examination that ended with him feeling “physically violated and distraught.”
“Patient 2 described this exam: ‘He was examining my penis and testicles in a way I’ve never had before and pulling it and to the point of a fondle,’” the complaint reads.
The medical board’s examination states Castillo did not wear gloves during the genital exam and told Patient 2 his genitals had various medical ailments, but none were officially documented. The 25-year-old alleged in a letter sent to Facey on June 10, 2019 that Castillo also performed an examination of his prostate anally, a procedure he had “never received at a physical.”
The locations the alleged sexual assaults of Patients 1 and 3 are not explicitly stated in the medical board’s report. However, the medical board found that both had inappropriate interactions with Castillo as well.
Patient 1, a 47-year-old man at the time, reported having a physical examination with Castillo on Oct. 2, 2013. Before being able to push Castillo away during the appointment, the doctor “placed his mouth on Patient 1’s penis and orally copulated.”
This exam, according to the complaint, was reported to Castillo’s employer as well, and in a Sept. 15, 2015 meeting the alleged victim was told by staff that the “exam conducted by (Castillo) was done improperly.”
Patient 3, a 19-year-old man, stated that in his first and last visit with Castillo on June 4, 2019, the doctor performed a genital exam on him without gloves. The doctor was also noticeably “aroused” during the examination and asked the 19-year-old if he has “sex with boys.”
The complaint alleges that the doctor, at the end of the exam, asked Patient 3 about his home address, and after meeting up later that same day, the two engaged in sexual activity.
Civil Complaint
The civil complaint filed on behalf of Patient 2 in November 2019 not only contends Castillo is responsible for the alleged sexual abuse and harassment, but also his employers, Facey Medical Group and Providence Health Services.
“(The defendants) were aware of Castillo’s inappropriate actions with patients, as defendants had received prior complaints about Castillo’s ‘quality of care’ issues with other patients,” reads the complaint. “Despite these complaints, defendants … allowed Castillo to practice medicine.”
The termination of his privileges by Facey on July 29, 2019, was prompted by an internal investigation of a complaint submitted by a patient and the medical group did file a report with the medical board on Aug. 7, 2019, , according to the legal documents.
In total, the complaint lists eight allegations against the doctor and/or his former-employers.
