INCIDENTS OCCURRED AT DOCTOR’S HOME
A Platte City doctor has been convicted by a jury of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl.
Dr. Jonathan Philippe, 43, on Friday, Feb. 3 was found guilty of two counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree, one count of attempted enticement of a child, and one count of child molestation in the third degree after a five-day trial.
Philippe is a medical doctor who until November of 2019 had practiced at the Saint Luke’s Multispecialty Clinic in Platte City. He later worked for Mosaic Lifecare.
Court documents indicate the incidents took place in the Philippe home, which at the time was in unincorporated Platte County south of the city limits of Platte City.
The Landmark reported in April of 2020 that court documents detailed accusations against Philippe upon a child victim whose father had allowed her to stay with the Philippe family.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “The young victim in this case hesitated to disclose her abuse for fear that no one would believe her. But a Platte County jury did believe her. She showed extraordinary courage in reporting these awful crimes, and the jury’s verdict reinforces that no one is above the law.”
Prosecutors proved that in early 2020, Philippe began sexually abusing a young girl who was not a patient or family member. She disclosed the abuse to another adult, who ultimately reported it to the Platte County Sheriff’s Department.
Philippe testified during the trial, and his criminal defense lawyer spent much time asking about his medical practice. During the trial’s sentencing phase, he again took the stand and refused to accept responsibility for his actions, claiming that the jury “believed the wrong person,” despite having been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Zahnd said, “This defendant relied on his stature in the community as a physician to try to get away with abusing a teenager. Fortunately, his power and prestige did not prevent him from being held accountable for his terrible crimes.”
The jury recommended sentences of 10 years on each count of statutory sodomy, seven years for attempted enticement and three years for child molestation. By law, those sentences are required to run consecutively, meaning Philippe will serve a 30-year prison sentence.
Sentencing is set for March 24. Philippe is currently being held in the Platte County jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
Allegations against Philippe stemmed from an incident in which he had given the victim a $20 bill for “passing his test,” according to court documents. Philippe’s wife had asked the victim about where the money had come from, as it was not normal for the victim to have cash in hand since the Philippes provided for the victim’s needs and didn’t regularly hand cash to the child.
In conversations with adults in the home, the victim disclosed several instances of molestation, including instances where Philippe allegedly rubbed the victim’s body parts and allegedly forced his body parts upon the victim, court documents stated.
According to court documents, investigators were furnished a photo of what appears to be semen on clothing or bedding, with the semen allegedly being Philippe’s. Investigators were also given two audio recordings in which the victim had described acts alleged to have been done by Philippe.
According to court documents, in an interview with the children’s division of Missouri Department of Social Services, the victim told investigators that Philippe had told the victim the alleged acts were all a “test” and if someone else tries to do this to the victim she needs to do what she did, referring to her saying “no.”
The victim told authorities that the incidents had begun when the victim “was about 12 or 13 years old,” according to court documents.
According to court documents, when police arrived at the Philippe house on April 3, 2020, Philippe was gone, but he called the victim asking if the victim had told anyone about what happened, saying the victim “was going to ruin a lot of lives” if anyone had been told.
It is alleged in court documents that Philippe then asked the victim to tell the police there was no abuse so they would “go home.”
On April 3, 2020, a detective attempted to contact Philippe concerning his involvement in the case but Philippe did not return the detective’s phone call. According to court papers, the detective discovered Philippe would be working in the Bethany area over the weekend. The detective drove to Bethany intending to interview Philippe at his place of employment. A short time before the detective arrived, Philippe called the detective, according to court documents. Philippe was asked if he would talk about his side of the events in the case, and Philippe then stated he would like to consult an attorney.
The case was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department.
The victim was treated at Children’s Mercy Hospital and completed a child forensic interview at Synergy Services.
The case was tried by assistant prosecuting attorney Myles Perry and first assistant prosecuting Attorney Mark Gibson.