Former Yellow Springs doctor Donald Gronbeck pleaded not guilty in Greene County Common Pleas Court to all the counts against him Thursday afternoon. He faces 50 charges in connection with alleged sex crimes.
Some of the 15 women who accused former doctor Gronbeck of sexually assaulting them sat in the back of the courtroom on Thursday. Earlier this week, law enforcement officials said his actions were a ‘brutal betrayal of trust.’
His attorney, John Paul Rion, pleaded not guilty on his behalf.
"I'll say more about this case, but I want to receive all the information (prosecutors) have before I elaborate on why I think he's innocent. But you very well may have a doctor who hasn't committed the crime," Rion said to the media after the arraignment.
The judge has ordered Greene County prosecutors to provide the information they used to indict Gronbeck to his attorney within two weeks.
Gronbeck is due back in court on Nov. 17 for a bond hearing. County prosecutors want Gronbeck to be held in jail without bond, in part because they believe he is a flight risk.
Rion disagreed.
"Donald (Gronbeck's) been free for the last nine months with his passport and free to go anywhere he wants under no restrictions in any country, in the world, any place he wants. He stayed in Greene County. He hasn't left. We knew this day may come. We weren't surprised when it did. So to say that somehow he has to be held because he's a flight risk is just ridiculous."
Rion said the bond hearing scheduled for next month will be like a mini-trial, and that both he and the county may call witnesses to the stand.
Chris Welter is a reporter and corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
