Dr. Albina was arrested this morning at his home. The orthopedic surgeon is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, aggravated sex assault of a child and two counts of promotion of child porn. He's accused of paying his victims hundreds of thousands of dollars.
At this point, Houston police have identified four victims, two of whom are now adults and two others who are still children. In fact, it was a victim who initiated the investigation two years ago.
HPD Officer JT Roscoe explained, "A 24-year-old male came to the police department and alleged that Bernard Albina had been sexually assaulting him starting when he was five or six years old, all the way through adulthood."
Dr. Albina's office is listed as being at St. Joseph Medical Center and had been in practice for a long time.
"That's one of the reasons why I've contacted you all," said Officer Roscoe. "(We're) trying to track down, especially with HIPAA laws, trying to track down every patient."
Over at the prosecutor's office, the wait is now on for police to go through hours of videotape of the doctor allegedly grooming and assaulting his victims. Investigators must also comb through several minivans full of other evidence.
"He has been charged," said Assistant District Attorney Eric Devlin. "He's in Houston Police Department jail. He'll be transferred to the county jail at some point in time today and then he'll have his first court appearance tomorrow or the next day."
Police tell Eyewitness News that the money paid out to victims came in the form of cash and gifts, and the assaults allegedly took place at one of the doctor's offices, in his cars and at victims' homes. Anyone with information on other possible victims is urged to call the HPD Juvenile Division at 713-731-5335 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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