DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — Dr. Nathan Ward, a well-known OB/GYN in Bountiful, is back behind bars. The 55-year-old was arrested last month after an investigation into his alleged possession of child pornography.
Now, Ward is facing even more charges, including sexually abusing at least one teenage girl.
Ward practiced in Bountiful at Lakeview Hospital.
Brooke Sanders was a patient of Ward’s. She went into surgery at Lakeview Hospital in July and talked to Ward before he operated on her but she never saw him after she woke up.
“We waited and waited for results that never came,” Sanders said.
In the post-op room at Lakeview Hospital, Sanders waited for Ward for six hours after her surgery.
“At that point, when he didn’t show up, I was just kind of worried for myself like ‘Is there something wrong with me? ‘Was the surgery OK?’” Sanders said.
Little did Sanders know, while she was at the hospital, Ward was arrested and booked into jail.
He was accused of having and sharing child porn after an eight-month investigation conducted by Utah’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
“Women who are bearing their child, they put a lot of trust into their doctors and it’s sad to know that trust can be broken so easily and I can’t imagine what all the ladies are feeling that have had their babies must be going through,” Sanders said.
Ward posted bail when he was arrested in July but is now back behind bars facing more charges.
“It’s so disheartening because he gave me two beautiful boys and how could a man like that do that,” said Carli Denning, who was Ward’s patient for more than ten years.
New court documents say in 2012 Ward inappropriately touched a 13-year-old girl. On a separate occasion between 2012 and 2015, he’s accused of touching a minor female without her consent. On a third occasion, also between 2012 and 2015, he is once again accused of touching the minor female inappropriately.
The Davis County Attorney’s Office would not say if there was more than one victim. But, in all instances, the charging documents say the defendant occupied a position of special trust to the teen.
Ward is now facing one count of sodomy upon a child, one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, one count of forcible sodomy, two counts of forcible sex abuse and six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
“This all shocks me I can’t believe this is the same man,” Denning said. “It’s like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.”
Ward is scheduled to appear in court on August 11. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
