Evidence
Identical Twin Doctors in Related Pedophilia Cases Get Separate Trials
Posted Oct 9, 2009 3:29 PM CST
By Martha Neil
In a criminal case that sounds like a law school exam hypothetical, two identical twin pediatricians in Ohio are both accused of having sex with underage males, including some patients, and are expected to go to trial at roughly the same time.
But the 53-year-old physicians will be tried separately, the judge in their Butler County case has ruled, because they look so much alike that the jury might otherwise be confused, reports ABC News.
"It's very rare. I know of no other case where ... not just identical twins, but brothers, professionals have been charged with crimes of this nature," says Stephen Holmes. He is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies at the University of Central Florida.
Mark Blankenburg is facing 41 charges in the pedophilia case while Scott Blankenburg is facing 22. Both men maintain their innocence.
Related earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Identical Twin Escapes Gallows in Real-Life Prisoner’s Dilemma"
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Comments
B. McLeod
Oct 9, 2009 5:35 PM CST
“Identical twin doctors.” There’s a specialty one does not hear of often.
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Anonymous
Oct 10, 2009 12:21 PM CST
I wonder if they were in practice together? Or sometimes filled in for each other, since they were in the same specialty? I would assume they’re both preparing for a defense of “How can you be sure that the victims were molested by my client, and not his evil identical twin, the accused pedophile pediatrician?”
However they go about it, it’s going to sound like the plot of a trashy novel.
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Ronbo
Oct 11, 2009 11:41 PM CST
One time I was seeing an opthamologist. A guy walks in who looks a lot like him (not identical, but clearly related). He tells me that the guy was his brother, who was a podiatrist, and they liked to sit in on each others’ appointments.
And i resisted the urge to blurt out, “Weird!”
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AndytheLawyer
Oct 12, 2009 9:43 AM CST
Here we have life just about imitating art—specifically, the 1988 film “Dead Ringers.” it was directed by David Cronenberg and starred Jeremy Irons as twin gynecologists who habitually seduced patients—one after the other after the first grew weary of the relationship.
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