Former Lincoln doctor accused of sexually assaulting patients

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A now-former Lincoln doctor has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting his patients, some of which were in varying stages of recovery, addiction, and mental health crises.

On Thursday morning, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force, served an arrest warrant for Scott Schmidt, 54, at his home in south Lincoln. Schmidt was taken into custody and investigators then served a search warrant at the residence.

He was arrested for first and second-degree sexual assault for incidents involving two of his patients that occurred between January 1st and July 1st of this year. Schmidt treated patients for alcohol or substance abuse and mental health issues.

According to court records, one patient claims Schmidt confronted him over his drinking habits, went to his apartment, and exposed himself.

Another patient, who originally described Schmidt as a “cool doctor” and gave him his number, later said he feared he would be cut off from his medications if he didn’t go along with Schmidt’s request to send him sexual pictures.

A third patient, according to the court documents, claims while on prescription drugs, Schmidt performed oral sex on him. That man’s lawyer is now looking into whether the prescription drugs were even necessary.

The arrest warrant affidavit included reports of sexual assaults from five former patients who said the alleged crimes happened at Schmidt’s home and in one case, at the home of one of the patients. Attorneys for four of the alleged victims released the following statement.

The investigation is ongoing and the Sheriff’s Office would still urge anyone with information or who was sexual victimized by Schmidt to contact the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office at (402) 441-6500.

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