‘I’m thriving despite you,’ sexual assault victim tells North Texas doctor at sentencing

A former doctor who was well known in Johnson County has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the sexual assault of patients, according to court records.

As part of a plea agreement, John Dang also was sent to prison for insurance fraud.

Dang was sentenced Thursday in Cleburne, where he once ran one of the largest private medical practices in Johnson County, according to KXAS-TV.

“I hope you genuinely and truly understand how your actions have affected me and there are so many hateful things I would love to say to you,” one victim, Christina Campos, said Thursday during a victim impact statement on an online call during Dang’s sentencing, according to the NBC 5 television report.

Campos agreed to be identified because she wanted people to hear and see her comments, KXAS reported. She was a teenager when Dang assaulted her in his medical office.

Dang was arrested in February 2019, according to jail records.

His license to practice medicine was suspended indefinitely by the Texas Medical Board on Dec. 7, 2018, board records show.

During a Dec. 7, 2018 hearing, the board found that Dang displayed unprofessional conduct based on allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual behavior with two patients, and that he inappropriately prescribed controlled substances to two patients, failed to keep adequate financial records and became financially involved with patients inappropriately, the Star-Telegram previously reported.

Previously, on April 4, 2018, the board temporarily suspended Dang’s license because his behavior posed a “continuing threat to the public welfare,” an agreed order between Dang and the board said.

The board concluded Dang sexually assaulted a 14-year-old during an examination in 2006 and sexually assaulted another patient during an examination on Oct. 5, 2017, board records show.

The 14-year-old girl’s mother took her to see Dang about hip pain, and during the examination Dang inserted his fingers into her genitals, board records show. During another examination, Dang did the same thing to another patient who reported the incident to the Cleburne police on Oct. 27, 2016, according to the records.

A third patient saw Dang on Oct. 5, 2017, for what she believed was a mole-removal procedure and was subjected to the same treatment. The patient also accused Dang of rubbing her genitals during the exam, according to board records. That patient reported the incident to Cleburne police on Oct. 10, 2017, and alleged a sexual assault, board records show.

The board also concluded that Dang borrowed money from a patient while treating her for pain and prescribing controlled substances or dangerous drugs to her, and that a bank investigation determined he used a $5,000 Care Credit account to bill for fraudulent services without a patient’s knowledge.

That patient was prescribed Valium, Xanax, and two medications containing opiates, even after Dang became aware of her history of drug abuse and her admission into Millwood Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, the records show. Dang borrowed a total of $20,000 from the patient in 2015, according to the records.

An examination of the allegations of fraud and sexual abuse led the Texas Medical Board’s disciplinary panel to suspend Dang’s license.

On Thursday, Campos, one of Dang’s victims, told the former doctor how his actions caused her parents to doubt her.

“I’m happy and I’m thriving despite you,” Campos said in her statement. “My life will forever be changed knowing you cannot hurt anyone else.”

Fort Worth defense attorney Bob Gill, who along with attorney Miles Brissette were special prosecutors in the case, told KXAS-TV that nobody may ever know how many patients Dang abused.

This report contains information from Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives.