SANTA CRUZ >> Dr. James Kohut, a Santa Cruz brain surgeon licensed to practice in California for almost two decades, was shackled before a row of TV cameras in his first Santa Cruz County Superior Court appearance Wednesday.
The former Palo Alto Medical Foundation doctor is accused of having sex with three children between January 2016 and his arrest Sunday in Santa Cruz, according to court documents. Two women, including a Watsonville nurse, are co-defendants and also suspected of lewd acts with children in Santa Cruz County.
Kohut, 57, retained San Jose attorney Nick Cvietkovich. Kohut waived an arraignment and plea hearing for May 26 on 10 charges of sexual acts with children.
If convicted, Kohut could face a life sentence in prison.
During Wednesday’s hearing before Superior Court Judge John Salazar, Kohut’s thin arms protruded from his orange jumpsuit. In the courtroom’s otherwise empty jury box, Kohut provided his thumbprint on court documents, which he signed with his right hand.
Six of Kohut’s charges allege specific acts with children, Assistant District Attorney Steven Moore told reporters after the hearing. But Moore declined to provide details about the allegations.
“We’re dealing with the facts in front of us,” Moore said.
Cvietkovich said his client would be cleared of the allegations.
“Dr. Kohut is a renowned neurosurgeon,” Cvietkovich said. “He has spent his life saving the lives of others.”
Kohut was fired Monday — before he started his new practice — from Arkansas medical firm Sparks Health System. He was hired at that practice May 1.
“He was employed for about two weeks and had not yet established regular office hours seeing patients,” Sparks Health spokeswoman Stacy Johnson said.
Kohut has active medical licenses in California and Arkansas. He graduated from Albany Medical College of Union University in New York in 1992. Kohut was licensed to practice medicine in Michigan from 1992 to 1995 and in Vermont from 1996 to 1998, according to state medical boards.
BEDSIDE MANNERS
A former Dominican Hospital nurse and a woman related to a patient of Kohut’s said the surgeon’s gruff bedside manner and alleged outbursts resulted in complaints against him at work.
Kohut was one of three doctors at Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center and one of two doctors at Dominican Hospital who specialized in neurological surgery.
Former Dominican Hospital Intensive Care Unit nurse Christopher Isobe said his wife was a patient at the hospital when the neurosurgeon allegedly was heard yelling aggressively after a new nurse made a mistake. The situation led the couple to file a complaint. Isobe said he worked at the hospital 2012 to 2014.
“Kohut walked through the ICU and started screaming at everybody,” Isobe said. “Our door was shut to our room and we could hear him yelling.”
Isobe said the hospital has received “a lot of warnings” about Kohut.
“There have been issues in the past with lewd behavior toward ICU nurses which I have been privy,” Isobe said.
A former brain-cancer patient’s sister, Mary Reynolds, contacted the Sentinel about the family’s interactions with Kohut.
“He was extremely rude to us,” Reynolds said. “I just hope he never practices again anywhere.”
THREE ACCUSED
A former Dominican Hospital nurse who lives in Watsonville and an Arizona woman also face charges for allegedly engaging in sex with children — forced and captured on video — in Santa Cruz County on May 9, according to court documents.
Rashel Melina Brandon, 42, of the 500 block of Cirvelo Street<-, a short distance from Ann Soldo Elementary School, was seeking divorce and custody of her children when she allegedly abused a 3 year old on video, according to court documents.
Watsonville police arrested Brandon on May 9 on eight felonies: four charges of having sex with a child younger than 11 years old; three charges alleging forcible lewd acts on children; and using a minor for sexual acts.
Attorney Anthony Robinson is representing Brandon. Her next preliminary hearing is scheduled May 26 in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
A warrant was filed Tuesday in Santa Cruz County for Emily Joy Stephens, 29, of Arizona on six felonies: three charges of sex with children and three charges of forced lewd acts with children. Stephens was arrested May 12. She was arrested by Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson, Arizona, on those charges.
Moore said he does not know when Stephens will be returned to California.
“She is fighting extradition in Arizona,” Moore said.
Kohut has been held without bail at Santa Cruz County Jail. Brandon is being held at Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, according to jail records. Stephens is held at Pima County in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to jail records.
No federal charges have been filed in the case, but the FBI is assisting the investigation.
Watsonville Police Department will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. Thursday.
