Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell - Hardcover

Olsen, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689119593 ISBN 13: 9780689119590

Publisher: Atheneum, 1989

Synopsis

For twenty-five years, the trusted family doctor in a small Wyoming town had been raping and molesting the women and children who most relied on him.
Mostly Mormons, the naive victims sometimes realized on their wedding nights the truth about what had happened in Dr. Story's office.
In riveting detail, veteran crime writer Jack Olsen tells the searing story  of a small group of courageous women who decided to bring a doctor to justice -- and unearthed a legacy of pain and anger that would divide their families, their neighbors, and an entire town.

About this title

Review:

This story about the impact of a malevolent family physician on a tiny Wyoming town is my favorite of Jack Olsen's true-crime books so far. In measured prose worthy of a literary novel, Olsen gives life to the docile but ultimately stalwart characters of a mother and two adult daughters who were raised according to Mormon strictures about sex--including "the garment," a cotton sack that they were supposed to wear next to their skin for every single moment of their lives. These three were among hundreds of naive girls and women who trusted their beloved Dr. Storey so much that they submitted to his molesting and raping them under the guise of unnecessary pelvic exams. And they became the reluctant leaders of the fight to bring him to justice--a fight that divided the community between the doctor's (mostly) Baptist supporters and his Mormon detractors. Doc won the 1990 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.

From Library Journal:

In 1983, Lovell, a town in Wyoming, was rocked by accusations that Dr. John Story, one of its leading citizens, had been sexually abusing his women patients for over 25 years. During the ensuing medical board hearing, criminal trial, and media publicity--including a segment on 60 Minutes --local support was divided between the victims and Story, who claimed that he was the object of a religious conspiracy (most of the women were Mormons). This is an intense, bizarre tale which could have been luridly told, but Olsen ( Son: A Psychopath and His Victims, LJ 11/15/83) shows great compassion for the women; he uses their own accounts in court and from interviews to tell what went on during the doctor's examinations. A disturbing, extremely well-written book, this will leave the reader feeling almost as involved in events as the Lovell citizens. Very highly recommended.
- Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0689119593
• ISBN 13: 9780689119590
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 479