Deputies arrest ex-Flagler doctor accused of groping patients

BUNNELL — A Palm Coast doctor accused of touching female patients inappropriately during office visits was arrested Wednesday and charged with two felonies.

The arrest of Florence Fruehan, 59, follows a months-long investigation into reports from numerous patients and former patients of the former doctor, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

Two female patients, ages 77 and 74, told sheriff's investigators that Fruehan had touched them inappropriately during office visits and that the touching happened without their consent and without serving any legitimate medical purpose, according to arrest reports.

Both women told deputies the encounters made them feel uncomfortable and they opted to stop visiting Fruehan but he followed up their visits with late-night phone calls that also made them feel they were being harassed and intimidated.

The Sheriff's Office in September sought criminal battery charges against Fruehan after two women, ages 55 and 39, reported he groped them during exams at this office. Neither of those charges stuck. Prosecutors dismissed one charge on Oct. 24 and the other was never filed.

The allegations for which Fruehan was charged Wednesday stem from two different women's complaints. The victim from a March 2016 incident told deputies Fruehan locked an exam room door, then unzipped her vest and unbuttoned her blouse before groping her with no explanation. Another woman said he committed similar acts and made inappropriate sexual remarks during a March 29 exam.

The incidents, while sexual in nature, did not meet the statutory requirements for a sex crime, the Sheriff's Office release states, so Fruehan is being charged with battery on a person 65 years of age or older, which is a felony under Florida law.

“Our detectives have not stopped working on this case since it was first reported to us,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in the release. “There is still more work to be done but I am pleased that the State Attorney’s Office has moved forward on these two felony charges. I hope the victims feel that justice is being served.”

Fruehan's bail is set at $10,000, according to the release. He was an osteopathic physician who had privileges to practice at Memorial Hospital in Ormond Beach and Florida Hospital Flagler, before voluntarily relinquishing his medical license in August, State Department of Health records show.