Pediatrician gets 20-plus years in abuse case

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Dr. Mark Blankenburg, 54, is handcuffed following his sentencing Friday, Jan. 8, in Butler County Common Pleas Court. The Hamilton pediatrician was found guilty in October of molesting former patients.

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Photos: Dr. Mark Blankenburg sentenced

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Gary Stelzer/Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Dr. Mark Blankenburg is handcuffed following his sentencing Friday, Jan 8, 2010 in Hamilton, Ohio.

Judge says Mark Blankenburg lacks remorse, labels him a sexual offender.

By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer Updated 2:02 AM Saturday, January 9, 2010

HAMILTON — Dr. Mark Blankenburg, once a well-respected pediatrician and photography buff who photographed players from the sidelines at Hamilton High School games, has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for molesting former patients.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth classified Blankenburg as a Tier II sexual offender and sentenced him to 21 to 27 years in prison for molesting three former patients, and for other charges stemming from money and drugs he paid the victims for years to keep quiet.

The 54-year-old doctor also was fined nearly $30,000.

When released from prison, Blankenburg will be on community control for five years and will have to register his address with the sheriff every six months for 25 years.

Blankenburg, who was termed by the lone witness at the hearing as a hebephile — someone with a sexual preference for pubescent individuals — offered a short apology before sentencing.

“For what I have done wrong, I am sorry,” Blankenburg told Spaeth as he stood with attorneys Chris Pagan and Michael Shanks. Because he was appealing his conviction, he had been advised not to say anything more.

Spaeth said Blankenburg had “wrecked” the victims’ lives: All struggle with addictions and one is in prison for life. “It is ... perfectly clear today, the defendant does not have any genuine remorse,” Spaeth said.

Blankenburg had little reaction when Spaeth handed down the sentence.

Twin brother and Fairfield pediatrician Dr. R. Scott Blankenburg, who is scheduled to stand trial in April on similar charges, did not attend the sentencing because he is under house arrest and on electronic monitoring because of new charges stemming from alleged conduct with a 15-year-old boy.

Court psychologist Bobbie Hopes testified that Mark Blankenburg is “stuck as an adolescent and his sexual maturity has not progressed,” despite being a physician.

The psychologist watched home videos shot in 1988 of the Blankenburgs wrestling with underage teenage boys that included crude and sexual conversation with the boys.

Assistant Prosecutor Lance Salyers said Blankenburg used his practice and photography hobby to fool the community for two to three decades.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.

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