A former patient of Dr. William Hamilton Ayres told jurors yesterday that during sessions for attention deficit disorder and bedwetting the former child psychiatrist touched his genitals without gloves during a physical examination and while watching him urinate into a plastic cup.

The adult man, identified in court only as Scott T., remembered as a 10-year-old thinking the experience was a little odd but assumed it was legitimate until learning as an adult that Ayres, now 77, stood accused of molesting other young boys in his care.

“I was possibly questioning it a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t think it was greatly out of the ordinary as a child ... [but had] a different perspective when older.”

Under cross-examination, the man conceded not knowing in 1990 or even now if physical exams or the visual checking of a urine stream is standard medical practice for the condition.

A different doctor referred Scott to Ayres in February 1990 and he saw him multiple times though his teen years, first for the bedwetting and learning difficulties followed by subsequent visits for medication. Scott recalled one physical exam in which his penis was touched and he had his blood pressure checked. Another time, he said, Ayres held his penis in one hand and a plastic cup in another while the boy urinated. The doctor said he needed to check the stream and volume. Scott only recalled well one incident but believes it happened three or four times to check “progress.”

“I thought it was a little odd but nothing I was going to run out screaming for,” he testified.

Scott contacted San Mateo police after his parents told him Ayres was accused of child molestation and in April 2007 told investigators about his experiences.

Weinberg, who told jurors in opening statements the doctor’s accusers were in part influenced by zealous investigators, asked Scott if that was when he decided he was abused.

Not “until you heard somebody else said Dr. Ayres did something inappropriate did you think so?” Weinberg asked.

Scott reiterated that he didn’t know as a child it was questionable.

“You trust a doctor,” he said.

Prosecutor Melissa McKowan told jurors Monday Ayres molested six former male patients entrusted in his medical care between 1988 and 1996 when they were aged 9 to 13. All the alleged victims, now adults, were inappropriately touched on their genitals in the guise of medical exams that were actually “a ruse designed by a pedophile” and unnecessary to treat their various learning and behavioral problems, she said.

The District Attorneys’ Office believes Ayres actually abused dozens of patients but the state of limitations curtailed how many could be charged criminally. Prosecutors were able to file charges on seven patients initially but one declined to testify at the last minute, leaving jurors to consider 10 counts of lewd and lascivious activity on a child under age 14 stemming from six alleged victims.

Ayres has pleaded not guilty. Weinberg told jurors the allegations are “wrong,” “misconceived,” and based on aged memories.

Scott T. agreed his recollection of some events is “a little vague.”

“Trying to think back 20 years is somewhat of a hard feat,” he said.

All six alleged victims will testify along with four former patients whose allegations fell outside the statute of limitations cutoff of 1988. One is a man who filed a police complaint in 2002 and settled a civil suit with Ayres in 2005, sparking the news coverage which brought some alleged victims to light. Others were identified by former patient files seized from Ayres’ storage locker in March 2006 after police realized they couldn’t act on three complaints that were too old.

Police arrested Ayres in April 2007.

Following opening statements, a teary 23-year-old witness told jurors Ayres fondled him and said not to tell anyone. The three incidents began when he was 9 years old, Orion B. said, and he kept it to himself until San Mateo police contacted him in 2006.

Ayres is the former president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry who garnered national recognition for his controversial sex-education program. He treated dozens of minors referred by schools and the justice system through 2004. In 2002, the Board of Supervisors honored him with a lifetime achievement award.

Ayres remains free from custody on $750,000 cash bail. The prosecution continues its case today.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.