CINCINNATI — A former doctor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is now facing a civil lawsuit from the parents of his former patients.
Howard M. Saal, a former geneticist and dysmorphologist at Children's, was in federal court last week for charges of transporting and possessing child porn.
According to court documents, a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office detective received a cyber tip in February regarding searches for child pornography that originated from Saal's IP address. That cyber tip included an image of two young girls engaging in sexual conduct.
Agents found more than 153,000 images and 470 videos of child sexual abuse material on the 73-year-old's electronic devices. Some of the materials found involve victims as young as newborns.
Since the charges went public, several parents have reached out to us wanting answers about the case. Cincinnati-based attorney Alan Statman filed a civil lawsuit Friday in Hamilton County Court against both Saal and the hospital, claiming both are liable for fraud and "spoliation of evidence."
WATCH: We break down the timeline of when officials got a tip about Saal to his indictment
"When you start to hear and see that pattern, we question what the employer knew and when they knew it," said Statman.
The suit claims Saal "willfully, altered, destroyed, delayed, hid, modified and/or spoiled records." Statman said parents of more than 100 of Saal's patients reached out to him over the last few days. We spoke with some parents who are concerned their children may be victims, including one parent who chose to stay anonymous.
"He would say that they were taking 'glamour shots,' he wouldn't be gone for that long, but again, it's concerning that I don't know if the pictures were just involving her face or other things," she said.
WCPO 9 News continues to investigate this case, working to get answers for concerned parents about what happened and what steps are being taken to protect patients.
"This doctor seemed to carry a personal camera around with him quite a bit; the photographs parents thought would be in the file aren't in the file," said Statman.
Timeline of events
- Feb. 16: Court records say authorities got a cyber tip that searches of child pornography originated from Saal's IP address.
- June 11: A Hamilton County judge signed off on a search warrant relating to Saal.
- June 12: Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Saal's home in Evendale.
- June 27: All seized evidence was transferred to the FBI Cincinnati, and on that same day, a federal judge granted the FBI's request for a federal search warrant authorizing the FBI to search all electronic devices seized by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
- July 14: Cincinnati Children's Hospital sent out a letter to parents saying Saal no longer works for the hospital, but did not give a reason. Some parents told us they never received that letter. Others claim they didn't receive the letter until Aug. 1.
- July 25: Saal voluntarily surrendered his medical license to the state medical board.
- Aug. 11: Saal was indicted on child pornography charges.
- Aug. 12: Saal appeared in federal court, where a judge granted him a bond with conditions.
- Aug. 13: The state medical board officially accepted Saal's license surrender.
Last week, we made multiple attempts to speak to Saal. We first called, which went to voicemail, but we weren't able to leave a message because the automated message said the mailbox was full. So, we visited Saal at his home, where I spoke with him through the door. Once I identified myself, Saal replied with "no comment."
On Monday, we reached out to Saal's lawyer, Eric Eckes, who told us he wasn't aware of the civil lawsuit against his client until we told him, but didn't have any further comment.
WCPO 9 News also confirmed that Saal was the president of Congregation Etz Chaim from June 2021 to 2024. The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati sent us a statement, on behalf of the synagogue, saying:
"At Congregation Etz Chaim, the safety and dignity of children and families is a core Jewish value and central to who we are. We absolutely condemn any exploitation and abuse of children. Dr. Howard Saal served as President of Etz Chaim from 2021 through June 2024. After learning of the federal charges against him, our Executive Committee voted last week that he should no longer hold any leadership positions. That decision is scheduled to be finalized by our Board of Directors on Monday. He has not been involved in any leadership activities since the Executive Committee vote."
We asked the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati if any members had come forward with allegations against Saal. A spokesperson said they were not aware of any complaints or allegations regarding Saal. We also asked if Saal is still a member of the synagogue, but they said they didn't have any updates about his status at this time.
For days, WCPO 9 News has been reaching out to Cincinnati Children's Hospital to try to get answers for parents. The hospital is standing by its statement from last week, 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."
On Monday, we reached out to the hospital for comment about the civil lawsuit. A spokesperson replied, "We do not comment on litigation."
WCPO 9 News will continue to press for answers on behalf of concerned parents and will update this story as we learn more about the investigation and the civil lawsuit.
