Sex therapy and treatment all in one convenient stop!

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/963582
July 9, 2001, 10:52AM

Sex therapy lands Houston doctor in hot water

By LISA TEACHEY
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

A Galleria-area sex therapist accused of charging a fee for his patients to have sex with two female employees pleaded guilty today to aggravated promotion of prostitution and was placed on probation for four years.

In exchange for his plea, a second charge against Marvin A. Stone, a 58-year-old medical doctor, was dismissed by prosecutor Kelly Siegler.

The charge is a third-degree felony carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

State District Judge Jeannine Barr deferred a finding of guilt for Stone. If he completes the probation successfully, no conviction will appear on his criminal record.

As part of the agreement, Stone, the former head of the Harris County Jail's psychiatric unit, will be allowed to keep his medical license and could continue to be a therapist, but not a sex therapist.

Siegler said her office agreed to the plea to keep Stone from continuing to use sex as part of his patients' therapy.

"We always believed he was guilty of the crime," Siegler said. "We just wanted him to quit practicing medicine this way."

Other conditions of his probation include paying a $1,000 fine and performing 200 hours of community service.

According to court documents, Stone was arrested in April during an undercover sting operation conducted by Houston Police Department vice officers that targeted his practice in the 4500 block of Post Oak Place.

Stone believed what he was doing was legitimate therapy, defense lawyer Andy Drumheller said. But his belief doesn't have any practical affect on the law, Drumheller said.

In Texas, it is a crime to engage in sex for a fee. Two women at his office were doing just that.

Drumheller said Stone was not accused of engaging in sex with his patients. He was charged because he owned the business.


[This message has been edited by rockHEAD (edited July 09, 2001).]