Therapist Is Accused of Sex Assaults

LOS ANGELES —  It first came to her in a dream, the seemingly crazy notion that she was having sex with her therapist while under hypnosis, a former actress testified last week in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

“I started thinking and remembering and dreaming in my sleep that certain things were happening,” the woman said, crying as she recalled the therapy sessions.

“I didn’t know if it was my crazy thoughts or what.”

When North Hollywood police planted a recording device in her bra and monitored her May 10 session with Michael Lamont Buffington, a licensed psychologist’s aide, the clues that first surfaced in her dreams led to criminal charges.

On Thursday, Municipal Court Judge Paul L. Metzler ordered Buffington, 46, to stand trial on six counts of sexually assaulting two female patients in the offices of the Some People’s Children medical group on Cahuenga Boulevard. The clinic, run by Buffington’s wife, specializes in treating victims of sexual abuse.

“Here you have an individual who, if the evidence is true, was in a position of trust and was making his victims exceptionally vulnerable by using hypnosis,” the judge said, rejecting a defense motion to dismiss the charges.

According to testimony, Buffington fondled one of the women in 1993, when she sought his advice about leaving an abusive husband. The other allegedly was fondled in April and May while undergoing treatment for anxiety.

Both women testified that they could remember details of being fondled while under hypnosis by Buffington, but felt powerless to resist him.

Buffington is not a licensed psychologist, although he has used the title “doctor” in the past, said Les Williams, an investigator for the Medical Board of California. The case remains under investigation by the board, he added.

The audiotape made by police underscores the credibility of the alleged victims, Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Yochelson said. As police listened nearby, Buffington hypnotized the woman.

“We heard a zipper,” said Det. Karen Crawford. “We heard clothes rustling, and we started hearing some very heavy breathing.”

Police kicked in the door and half a dozen officers rushed in.

Defense attorney William Graysen argued that the charges should be dismissed because no threat or force was used.

But Yochelson said the victims were afraid and under duress.

Buffington is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 15.