The defense for once-renowned San Mateo psychiatrist William Hamilton Ayres began yesterday, just more than a week after jurors began hearing evidence in the molestation trial and after a 10th former patient recalled being inappropriately touched during a physical exam.

The defense, which started in the later afternoon, began with San Mateo police Detective Rick Decker who was queried about the interviews of each alleged victim with defense attorney Doron Weinberg comparing the statements they made approximately two years ago with the testimony they offered jurors.

The defense has not indicated whether Ayres, 77, will take the stand in his own defense against 10 counts of lewd and lascivious activity with a minor under age 14. The counts stem from six former patients who say Ayres molested them between 1988 and 1996 when they were aged 9 to 13 although 10 now-grown men testified about their alleged experiences. The judge is allowing four patients whose allegations are beyond the statute of limitations and jurors will be left to decide if it can be used as evidence against the doctor who once served as president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and treated dozens of minors referred by schools and the justice system through 2004.

In opening statements, defense attorney Doron Weinberg said Ayres’ controversial stances on sex education left him vulnerable to allegations of sexual impropriety and argued physical exams of patients was a more-widely accepted practice of child psychiatry in the earlier decades of his career.

Weinberg is expected to call doctors to bolster that theory although the bulk are not anticipated before next week.

The defense began after the prosecution wound down its case with a handful of law enforcement members and a final former patient whose story mimicked those of the nine men on the stand before him.

Peter V., now 40, was 12 when referred to Ayres in 1982 because of trouble at school and his parents’ divorce. He recalled seeing the doctor for approximately six months but said one meeting particularly stood out because it involved a genital exam. Peter V. said his penis was not touched but his scrotum cupped and fondled — a recollection which set off detailed questioning by both sides of whether that included or was separate than the testicles.

Peter V. said he misspoke in his word choice, saying he meant “a person came in and touched my groin region in a way that was extremely inappropriate.”

Neither Peter V. nor his wife, whose job makes her a mandated reporter, told law enforcement his allegation until after Ayres’ arrest in April 2007.

Peter V.’s testimony capped a span of 10 former patients on the witness stand who told similar yet varied stories of genital exams by Ayres.

Decker and San Mateo Deputy Police Chief Mike Callagy, then a captain, explained the prepared script used to question former patients culled from Ayres’ medical files to determine if they might be victims. The questions began with “Do you have any idea why I’m calling?,” led into queries if they recalled Ayres and, if so, if they underwent a medical examination. Decker said the goal was to avoid suggestive questions because he didn’t want to “put any ideas in their heads.”

Weinberg, however, wants jurors to believe that is exactly what happened.

As the first defense witness, Decker confirmed initial police interviews with some of the victims in which they seemed less inclined to describe the incidents as potentially criminal.

Steven S., who came to law enforcement’s attention after Ayres’ arrest, was asked by police “What do you remember about the physical exam?”

“I wouldn’t consider it molesting ...,” Steve S. stated.

Weinberg also brought out that former patient Orion B., who broke down while testifying about being touched, told Decker in August 2006 the incident was “something he hadn’t thought about in a long time” and that the exams “coincided with the times his medication changed.”

Ayres remains free from custody on $750,000 bail. The jury returns Monday morning.

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