A Cherokee County grand jury indicted an Erlanger doctor on five additional sexual offense and human trafficking charges related to three more alleged victims. Dr. Thomas Vann Clayton was arrested in late March on 16 felony charges including forcible sexual offenses and sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment with seven victims.
Clayton is on administrative leave from the hospital and is currently being held on a $1 million secured bond. At a hearing in Murphy last week, Clayton’s attorney, Rich Cassady, asked Judge William Coward to reduce the bond to $250,000, arguing that Clayton was not a flight risk.
District Attorney John S. Hindsman told the court there was a “tremendous” risk of flight by Clayton. Hindsman said he believed Clayton’s wife is Puerto Rican and “still has family on the island.”
“Having contacts on the island would make his ability to disappear in Puerto Rico much easier, and that is possible,” he said.
Cassady told the court Hindsman did not know Clayton’s wife’s background.
“He doesn't know if Carmen Clayton is just Puerto Rican descent, or she was born in Puerto Rico,” he said.
In an interview with BPR, Cassady called the assertion “racial profiling.”
“What if she was white? Does that mean he’s not going to flee? What is she was black? Does that mean he’s not going to flee? This is profiling,” he said.
At the hearing, Cassady described Clayton as a 66-year-old man on 11 medications, according to the transcript. He said Clayton had no criminal history, and the state's evidence was weak.
Hindsman disagreed, according to the transcript.
“I think this is going to be quite the trial,” he said. “I have an audio recording right here that Mr. Cassady has already been given that is unmistakably this defendant performing oral sex during an office appointment under the guise of medical treatment. There is absolutely no question.”
Hindsman asked the court to double the bond in light of the new indictments.
Judge William Coward left the bond at $1 million. He also declined to impose a travel restriction on Clayton if he did make bond.
Cassady asked Judge Coward to set the trial to begin July 10, 2023. Hindsman said a July 10 trial date was not possible, in part because Clayton’s cell phone may hold evidence “that we believe will also corroborate some of the State's evidence,” according to the court transcript.
Law enforcement officials have not yet been able to access the information on the phone, Hindsman said.
“It's a relatively new iPhone. The operating system has been upgraded,” he said. Hindsman said they reached out to the Secret Service and two different FBI field offices, according to the court transcript.
“I contacted a friend of mine who works in the intelligence office for the FBI in Knoxville, Tennessee, and they think they're about six months out from being able to break this current version of the iOS operating system,” he said.
Judge Coward said he would not set the trial date for July, given the six months waiting time for the phone contents.
In addition to charges related to alleged sexual contact, Clayton faces five charges of human trafficking, including two returned by the grand jury last week.
“The human trafficking is based primarily upon Dr. Clayton changing prescriptions, altering prescriptions, or withholding prescriptions in order to gain control and access to these individuals to perform these sexual acts,” Hindsman told the court.
Medical board documents show Clayton had a history of disciplinary violations and drug use, including probation by the medical licensing authority in Florida.
