Ex-USC Gynecologist Accused of Abusing Patients Kept Photos of Nude Women in Storage Unit

Detectives have found that former USC gynecologist George Tyndall, who has been accused by hundreds of women of sexual abuse dating back to the 1990s, kept homemade pornography and photos of nude women in a storage unit.

The Los Angeles Times reports that some of the photos detectives discovered show women in what appears to be a medical exam room. Now detectives are trying to figure out the identities of these women and if the photos reflect appointments that happened at the university. Police tell the paper that the search for those women is difficult because the photos are old and they want to respect the privacy of the women in them which limits their release. Found in the unit were also “numerous computers and hard drives” that are still being examined.

Tyndall reportedly frequently took photos of patient’s genitals, claiming they were for research. An investigation done by the university in 2016 that led to him leaving USC found a box of those photographs during a search of Tyndall’s office. The university claimed the photographs depicted abnormalities or disease and were clinical and therefore not unusual.

The Los Angeles Times first reported on Tyndall’s alleged crimes, which included the photographing, making gross comments about patients’ bodies, inappropriate touching, and specifically targeting Chinese students with harassment. Since then, and the discovery that USC kept Tyndall on staff even after complaints from students began to roll in, the university reached a $240 million settlement with former patients. The LA Times also reports that there are 234 women filing police reports against Tyndall, making it one of the largest sex crimes investigation involving one person in LAPD history.