Lawsuit filed accusing Merced pediatrician, clinic of videotaping employee in restroom

A Merced pediatrician already facing criminal charges for allegedly recording people – including children – in a clinic restroom is also being sued by one of his former assistants who claims she was a victim of the alleged recordings.

Carlos Teran Miranda is accused of planting a video camera in two restrooms in the pediatric unit at Golden Valley Health Centers on Childs Avenue in Merced. He also has been charged with molesting three autistic children during an examination last year, according to the criminal complaint filed in Merced Superior Court.

The pediatrician has pleaded not guilty to lewd acts upon a child and possession of child pornography.

Teran Miranda, 35, was ordered to stand trial Tuesday in the criminal case following a preliminary hearing.

One of the people allegedly captured in the hidden-camera footage, a former medical assistant for Teran Miranda, is suing the doctor for invasion of privacy, sexual harassment and emotional distress, according to a copy of the complaint.

The civil suit, which seeks unspecified damages and others costs, was filed March 11 in Merced Superior Court and names Teran Miranda and Golden Valley Health Centers as defendants.

A hearing in the civil case is scheduled Aug. 3 before Judge Donald J. Proietti, according to court records.

The medical assistant, who was assigned to work under the supervision of Teran Miranda beginning in March 2014, claims in the lawsuit that she suffered “humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, mortification, mental anguish, and emotional distress” since learning about the videotaping.

The employee, according to the complaint, said she received unwanted attention from Teran Miranda, including gift cards and food. The woman alleges that Teran Miranda would ask her personal questions such as at what gym she exercised.

“(The plaintiff) … alleges that in addition to the unwanted special attention and favoritism that Miranda engaged in, Miranda in furtherance of his unlawful sexual harassment and without (her) permission video recorded (her) on numerous occasions …,” the document states.

The complaint claims that Teran Miranda was aware that the medical assistant regularly changed into her gym clothing at the end of her shift in the restroom located next door to Teran Miranda’s office – one of the two restrooms in which police say he hid a camera.

The woman is suing Golden Valley Health Centers for “negligent hiring,” the complaint says.

According to the document, the woman believes the clinic should have known that Teran Miranda was unfit or incompetent for his position. The clinic’s hiring and supervising of the pediatrician was a substantial factor in causing the alleged victim harm, according to the complaint.

Golden Valley Health Centers declined to comment Wednesday. The plaintiff’s attorney could not be reached for comment.

Teran Miranda remains behind bars at the John Latorraca Correctional Facility in lieu of $475,000 bail. Teran Miranda’s defense attorney tried getting his bail reduced during Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, but the request was denied.

During Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors presented five videos found in the camera’s memory card and 21 deleted videos recovered during the investigation. Some of the videos showed adults and children using the toilet. Others showed Teran Miranda adjusting the camera, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors, during Tuesday’s hearing, also addressed the child molestation charges that were added to Teran Miranda’s case earlier this month. Investigators have identified at least three children – boys ages 6 and 8, and a 10-year-old girl – they say were molested by the pediatrician during a medical examination last fall.

The three children were described as having to wear diapers due to their developmental disabilities. Merced police Detective Joseph Henderson testified that Teran Miranda claimed he was teaching the children’s adoptive mother how to clean their genitalia by demonstrating on all three.

According to Henderson’s testimony, the woman said she left Teran Miranda’s office with the two boys to take them to the restroom. Upon her return, police said, the young girl was found on the examination table without pants or diaper.

Defense attorneys argued that the steps Teran Miranda took during the medical exams were routine. They also argued that, based on the positioning of the video camera in the restrooms, Teran Miranda was not targeting children.

Teran Miranda is scheduled to appear in court again on June 9 in the criminal case.

If convicted, the physician faces nearly 13 years in prison and would have to register as a sex offender for life, prosecutors have confirmed.

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Lawsuit filed accusing Merced pediatrician, clinic of videotaping employee in restroom."