A woman who was sexually assaulted by a New York neurologist during treatment expressed relief after he was convicted of sex attacks on six women.
Hillary Tullin had spoken out after Ricardo Cruciani, 68, was convicted on Friday of 12 attacks, including sexual assaults and rapes. He is facing life in prison.
Tullin told the New York Times she was ‘beyond happy’ and added: ‘To finally be vindicated, to finally know that this man will never hurt another person, to finally know that I might be able to sleep at night — it’s a great sense of relief.’
‘I don’t think it was until I got this verdict that I could finally say, I can start healing. I can start trying to rebuild my life again.’
She spoke after jurors came to an agreement that Cruciani doped up his patients and sexually assaulted them when they were most vulnerable.
The attacks for which he was charged occurred in 2021 at Beth Israel Medical Center, now named Sinai Beth Israel.
Cruciani worked at the organization’s offices in Union Square, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Cruciani, who has had the support of his pediatrician ex-wife Nora throughout the case, used his experience in psychiatry to get close to patients, asking them deeply personal questions about their early life and private lives.
Cruciani allegedly stroked their hair and complimented them before forcing them to kiss, grope, and have sex with him.
He was sentenced on September 14 to one count of predatory sexual assault, one count of attempted rape, one count of sexual abuse, two counts of rape, and seven counts of criminal sexual act.
Cruciani purposefully administered high doses of opioids to his patients in order to increase their dependence on him, leaving them with catastrophic opioid addictions as well as sexual trauma.
According to the lawsuit filed against Cruciani, numerous patients at the hospitals where he worked informed nurses that they had been sexually assaulted.
Several patients stated that they repeatedly requested nurses or other staff members to remain in the room with them during the consultation process, but their requests were usually denied.
