Psychiatrist Sentenced in ‘Deadbeat Dad’ Case

After two years of litigation, a Brentwood psychiatrist who owes $273,000 in spousal and child support was sentenced Wednesday to four years probation and ordered to pay $4,250 per month or risk going to jail.

The order against Ronald Alan Gershman, 50, came after a Municipal Court jury convicted him of two counts of contempt of court for nonpayment of spousal and child support.

During the trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Debra Lamb argued that while Gershman claimed he could not make a combined $6,000 a month in payments, he drove a Lexus, provided his secretary with a car and lived in a Westwood home whose $4,200-a-month rent was paid by his father.

Gershman’s attorney, William Graysen, disputed the contention that his client was a “deadbeat dad.” He argued that the psychiatrist had struggled to make his support payments even when income from his practice declined.

Lamb said she had hoped the judge would issue--but not impose--a 90-day jail sentence so Gershman would know that failing to make support payments would be met with “tremendous consequences.”