LOS ANGELES – A former pediatrician who was fired by Cedars- Sinai Medical Center is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of possession of child pornography.
Gary Goulin, 62, of Los Angeles, admitted possessing on his devices more than 600 images constituting child pornography, some involving minors who had not attained 12 years of age, according to his plea agreement.
“During the time period when defendant received and possessed child pornography images and videos, defendant was a pediatrician,” the plea agreement, filed in Los Angeles federal court, states.
Goulin was arrested Nov. 4, 2021, by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Juvenile Division and charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in October 2022.
After Goulin’s arrest on state charges, his attorney, Mark Werksman, told City News Service that the defendant “spent a lifetime providing quality care to his patients and dedicating himself to his practice. These charges have nothing to do with his patients or his medical practice or the hospital where he worked. We’re going to deal with the case in court.”
In a statement in 2021, Cedars-Sinai announced that it “took immediate action and terminated Dr. Goulin’s employment and his employee access to Cedars-Sinai facilities” after being notified by the LAPD of his arrest and the charges against him.
“We are appalled and disgusted by Dr. Goulin’s alleged crimes,” Cedars-Sinai said. “Cedars-Sinai remains committed to ensuring the integrity of our employees and the organization.”
Federal prosecutors and Goulin have agreed upon a sentence of 48 to 60 months imprisonment, a 15-year period of supervised release with conditions to be fixed by the court, and various fines and special assessments, according to the plea agreement. However, the sentence is ultimately up to the judge.
