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2 Technicians in Court on Charges of Molestation

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Two X-ray technicians accused of sexually assaulting patients in separate cases appeared in San Diego Municipal Court on Wednesday, where one denied his guilt and another went on trial.

Edmund Settle, a 24-year-old Navy corpsman, pleaded not guilty to three felony child molestation charges stemming from his previous employment at Children’s Hospital.

For the record:

12:00 a.m. May 8, 1992 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday May 8, 1992 San Diego County Edition Metro Part B Page 3 Column 1 Metro Desk 1 inches; 31 words Type of Material: Correction
Wrong judge--A story Thursday incorrectly identified the judge who handled the arraignment of accused child molester Edmund Settle. Municipal Judge Harvey Hiber accepted Settle’s innocent plea and set a new bail figure.

Settle was arrested Monday on charges that he molested two children and attempted to molest a third last year. The victims are male and ranged in age from 7 to 12, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Madruga.

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Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz lowered Settle’s bail to $5,000 and ordered him to appear at a preliminary hearing June 11.

Meanwhile, a jury heard an opening statement in the case of another X-ray technician charged with assaulting two female patients.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Atwill told a jury that Oscar Figueroa was a “predator” who placed stickers on the breasts of two victims without any medical reason.

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“He used his position as an X-ray technician at Coronado Hospital to violate the trust of two patients,” Atwill said.

Although one of the victims was a 16-year-old girl, Atwill said the most egregious crime involved a woman who was admitted to the hospital because of severe pain caused for unknown reasons. The woman, 26, who was the first witness in the trial, received a second, unauthorized examination from Figueroa, Atwill said.

After the woman had been given two strong painkillers in preparation for exploratory surgery, Figueroa took her to an X-ray room, where “he told her, ‘I have to do a pelvic and rectal examination on you,’ ” Atwill said.

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Doctors at the hospital did not authorize any such examination, Atwill told the jury.

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