CINCINNATI — More parents are demanding answers from Cincinnati Children's after their child's former doctor was indicted in federal court on child pornography charges. The parents we spoke with said they're getting nowhere with the hospital, and they reached out to us for help.
Lisa Brewer and Megan Fowler said they have children who had been patients of Howard Saal's for the majority of their lives. Both said the hospital never contacted them about Saal's indictment or told them he no longer works at the hospital.
Right now, they said the hospital has not cooperated with them when it comes to accessing their loved ones' medical records.
"When I tried to get into his MyChart ... it's locked down," said Brewer.
"We're going to let them know we're not backing down," said Fowler. "You're the only one responding back to us. You're the only one airing this story and getting the word out."
WATCH: We hear from the parents of Saal's former parents
For nearly two weeks, we've reported on the allegations against Saal after federal authorities indicted him for allegedly possessing more than 153,000 images and 470 videos depicting child sex abuse. We asked these parents what answers they're still not getting from Cincinnati Children's.
"We only want to know where our children's pictures are; they're trying to tell us that they don't know where they are," said Brewer.
We've heard from parents who told us that for years, Saal would take pictures of their children. They believed it was for medical reasons, but they all said none of the pictures existed in their child's medical files. Now, Brewer and Fowler said they've been locked out of seeing those medical files.
"Even the higher-ups, they don't want to talk about it, they want to brush it underneath the rug, they want to pass it down to family relations," said Fowler.
If you're a parent with concerns, contact Bret Buganski at Bret.Buganski@wcpo.com.
We once again reached out to Cincinnati Children's for comment, but so far, the hospital is standing by its statement from nearly two weeks ago, saying, "The safety and care of children is at the core of what we do and who we are."
"We absolutely condemn the exploitation of children," the statement continues. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities, and Howard Saal is no longer employed with Cincinnati Children's."
We also reached out to the FBI and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. A spokesperson from the sheriff's office said, "There is no evidence at this time that he (Saal) traded or distributed pictures of patients."
Some parents are so fed up with the hospital that they've been speaking with other parents whose children were patients of Saal's, and they plan on holding a protest outside of Cincinnati Children's Hospital on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 10 a.m.
"All we want is answers, that's it, our children are entitled to that," said Brewer.
We will continue to press for answers on behalf of concerned parents and will update this story as we learn more about the criminal investigation and the civil lawsuit.
