Jane Doe v. Gerard Abate, M.D.

On June 16, 2021, Cohen Milstein’s Takisha Richardson filed a civil sexual assault lawsuit on behalf of a plaintiff against Gerard Abate, M.D., referred to as, “Dr. Abate.”

The complaint alleges that on July 22, 2017, Dr. Abate committed counts of rape and sexual assault by deception or fraud, sexual battery, battery, aggravated battery, poisoning, and exposed the plaintiff to a sexually transmissible disease without notice and consent.

On September 12, 2022, the court granted Plaintiff's motion for default final judgment on liability. Trial begins on January 23, 2022.

Case Background

As detailed in the Complaint, in 2017, Plaintiff and Dr. Abate met while using an online dating service. On this platform, Dr. Abate misrepresented himself by lying about his marital status and intentions, thereby tricking Plaintiff into thinking that he was committed to a long-term, serious relationship.

According to allegations, the drugging and sexual assault of the plaintiff occurred when he lured her into his Flagler County, Florida beach home. During this event, Plaintiff’s drink was drugged by Dr. Abate so that she would be unable to protect herself during the night when the sexual acts were committed. This chemical compound impaired her to the point of blacking out and being only mildly conscious The Complaint also alleges that Dr. Abate exposed Plaintiff to a sexually transmitted disease. It is believed that prior to meeting Plaintiff, Dr. Abate contracted and knew he was infected with a sexually transmissible disease.

The lawsuit details that throughout messages exchanged following the assault, Plaintiff learned her attacker was married and that others had complained of Abate misrepresenting himself as single on dating websites. The assault has inflicted lasting emotional damage on the survivor, and as a result of the trauma she lost income due to reduced ability to work. The Complaint alleges that when the Plaintiff confronted Dr. Abate about the financial impact on her from his actions, he made multiple payments of thousands of dollars to her. When Plaintiff demanded that he submit to STD testing and provide the results to her, which he complied with, revealing that he tested positive, he ceased all communication and financial assistance.

This case is named: Jane Doe v. Gerard Abate, M.D., Case No. 2021 CA 000304, in the 7th Judicial Circuit, Flagler County, Florida