This is sick!!! He works at my hospital-NOT in the ER!! Thank GOD!
UPMC chair Corpuz Jr. sentenced on child porn charges
By Michael Hasch
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The chair of the Department of Medicine at UPMC South Side hospital and former president of the medical staff was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to possession of child pornography.
Dr. Marcelo B. Corpuz Jr., 63, a cardiologist from Oakdale, also was ordered by Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond to register as a child sex offender, serve five years of supervised release and pay a $10,000 fine as part of a plea agreement signed with prosecutors.
A state police officer discovered in April that Corpuz was using a software program to share child pornography videos on the Internet, prosecutors said.
An examination of the hard drive on his computer revealed 54 child pornography videos, prosecutors said.
There is no indication that Corpuz, who faced a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, used computer hospitals to view the videos.
"We expect him to resign from the medical staff," UPMC spokesman Frank Raczkiewicz said. "If he does not do so voluntarily, he will be removed involuntarily."
Diamond heard from more than a half-dozen witnesses -- including family members, fellow physicians, patients and a priest -- who asked the judge for leniency.
"From my experience as a physician in the field of cardiology of over two decades, there are few doctors ... who have exhibited such an extraordinary commitment to providing a remarkably high quality of care for his patients as Marc Corpuz," said Dr. John C. Phillips, who has offices in the South Side, in a letter to Diamond.
Attorney Stuart W. Benson III, an attorney specializing in disability law, wrote that only a fraction of the physicians he has known have demonstrated "the dedication to treatment and compassion for the needs of the patient" that Corpuz has displayed over the years.
Corpuz, who is married and has three adult children, was raised in a small fishing village in the Philippines and received his medical degree from the University of the Philippines.
He served his residency at the former St. Francis Medical Center in Lawrenceville and practiced in the Pittsburgh area for more than 35 years, with offices in the South Side, Uptown and McKees Rocks. He served as president of the medical staff at UPMC South Side from 2003-05 before being appointed chairman of the Department of Medicine.
Corpuz was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals at the conclusion yesterday's hearing.