Stuart Copperman, Pedophile
Stuart Copperman, Pedophile
When U.S. Olympic gymnasts testified against their perpetrator, I was re-traumatized. But also in absolute AWE that these young women knew it wasn’t their fault. They weren’t ashamed. Or embarassed. They were powerful. And scared. Let’s be clear. Nasser was the adult. The Doctor. They were just kids he betrayed and gaslighted. I went online. I found that other women from my Long Island neighborhood, Birch School, Lakeside, Merrick Ave JHS, Seaford, JFKennedy Bellmore, Mepham, Calhoun and other Long Island schools, were on social media asking if there were others Copperman hurt too.
Our childhoods were taken and our adult lives were permanently altered. Dateline NBC called it Innocence Lost.
This is the story of a four decades long pedophilia spree by a pediatrician, the privileged life he lived, protected by community leaders, and how over 100 women pursued justice. Throughout 2024 and into 2025, each case went through the court system in NY, with a total of $1.6 Billion Dollars awarded to the victims, who will never see a penny from the man who has had decades to protect his assets.
Read on, and you’ll see where society and the law need to catch up to realities.
“It’s not that there weren’t timely complaints in the 1970s, 80s, 90s. There were. Plenty of them.”
1980’s
Nassau county policemen interviewed the doctor and dismissed the girls. More complaints were lodged. He talked his way out of it. The New York State Department of Health took the case. They held administrative law court hearings. A panel of one priest and two doctors, colleagues of Copperman were to decide the case. Several young girls and their motherstestified. Copperman was lawyered-up with high profile criminal defense lawyers. He got away with it.
More complaints throughout the next decade.
Finally, in 1999, the State Board of Professional Medical Ethics for New York State held a second round of court hearings. This time, the panel unanimously recommended revoking the medical license of Dr. Stuart Copperman, pediatrician, of Merrick, New York. The Judge’s Order presented graphic descriptions of sexual abuse of children, and said…
“Only recovation of his license to practice medicine will ensure protection for the public.”
2021
The NY Child Victims Act — The next chapter. We hope to protect children today, because we were not protected. In 2021, 119 women filed lawsuits against Stuart Copperman during the one-year ‘catchup’ window that opened to make up for the unfairness of prior statutes of limitations.
Attorney Kristen Gibbons-Feden took our cases without retainer. She felt it was the “right thing to do” as a woman, attorney, and former criminal prosecutor of sex crimes. Other law firms advertising representation under the Child Victims Act refused us because there were no “deep pockets” and Copperman has had 20 years to hide assets. We hold Kristen in the highest regard and highly recommend her.
Hundreds more women reached out. Many were unwilling or unable to sue. Some had died before they ever were able to see any justice. Others were trying to deal with the trauma. Many had strained relationships with parents, due to this, and couldn’t proceed. So many were justifiably hesitant to release medical records.
2023
New York State Courts entered Judgment against Mr. Stuart Copperman, formerly “Dr.” Copperman.
2024
Here’s a photo from a public page, taken at the same time the pedophile pediatrician was “grooming” his pre-pubescent patients, in his basement medical office at his and Renee’s house on Hewlett Drive, in Merrick N.Y. He is pictured here with his (still) Wife, Renee, and three children (whom many of us were classmates of – making the whole situation just terrifying to us) – Alan, Beth, and Cara.
Shame on Mount Sinai Hospital for allowing him to attend the prestigious “Women’s Health Day” – this pedophile preyed on young girls and had his license revoked, and they must have known it or should have known it.
Copperman's 2011 published submission to Wordsmith's Haiku contest.
Was it his 'tell'?
Living the high life. Two country club estates. World travel. Society pages. Sound a bit like Epstein?
Make no mistake, none of the women whose lives were damaged by Copperman holds the grown children for the sins of their father in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90’s or 2000. No one is alleging they knew, as children, what their father was doing in their basement.
However, his children now in their 50’s and 60’s are steadfastly, publicly supportive of their pedophile father.
We have been contacted by his family friends, and even a relative of his, who are still afraid to be public with what they experienced or knew.
Several of the women who were sexually molested and “gaslighted” by their PEDIATRICIAN when they were children, tried to reach out to J.F. Kennedy Bellmore High School alums through the alumni network, in an effort to provide emotional support and shared healing.
One of Copperman’s children complained to the alumni association and requested that we be blocked from posting. It took legal maneuvering to get that objection overruled, although the alumni network did not allow comments on our post, presumably in deference to Copperman’s children’s request.
Legal hearings in 1986, and 1999, resulting in court ruling against their father and revocation of his license to practice medicine, did not make a dent in the Copperman children’s staunch public support of their father.
Dina Ribaudo: “He was a horrible predator in a white coat, with a stethoscope around his neck, who, if I had a paper cut, would sexually assault me and call it medically necessary. The mere thought of him triggers emotional trauma and fear for the safety of my young daughter. Still, I am proud to join the other survivors in seeking justice and look forward to testifying at a jury trial.” Francine Iacona: “Looking back, he was always charming to my mother, but he terrified me and he robbed me of my youth. I can never recover what was lost, but I can and will share my story under oath in hopes that what we are doing will result in justice and permanent change to protect the young and the innocent.”
Debra Zuckerwise: “My life has been a horror; an endless nightmare because of Copperman,” said Debra Zuckerwise. “I cry every time I think about it. I was only a little girl and, I’m sad to say, many of our own mothers thought we were telling a story. I finally have some hope that the whole truth will be told in court and he’ll be held to account.”
Lynn Barnett Seigerman: “I want him to have to experience the shame that he made me feel. I want him to have to face us in court and not be able to manipulate us. Above all, I want justice.”
Dana Marcus: “Copperman told me, when I was a pre-teen, that I was ‘dirty down there’, but not to worry because he could ‘clean’ me and wouldn’t tell my mother. At the time, I felt ashamed, and it hurt, but I was also thankful for his ‘keeping it our secret’ because I was so embarrassed. If you feel queasy hearing that, imagine how I felt as an adult realizing I had been ‘groomed’ by a pedophile.”