Former Doctor Edgar Archbold Pled Guilty to Child Sexual Abuse

Personal Injury - February 23, 2025

Edgar Archbold, Former Yorkville Doctor, Pled Guilty to Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child

YORKVILLE, ILLINOIS (February 22, 2025) – A former Yorkville doctor identified as Edgar Archbold has pled guilty to child sexual abuse.

The defendant was facing multiple felony counts. In all, Edgar Archbold pled guilty to seven felony counts.

According to prosecutors, an investigation into sexual assault allegations was started in April 2023. The victim was a minor patient and employee of Edgar Archbold.

Authorities said the victim told her mother and law enforcement that she was sexually abused by the defendant on multiple occasions. The assaults took place at his business and residence in Yorkville.

The 73-year-old former doctor was sentenced to 37 years for the assaults.

Liability for Sexual Assault by Medical Professionals

Sexual abuse involving medical professionals remains all too common. According to one study in Consumer Reports, “Thousands of doctors across the U.S. are on medical probation for reasons including drug abuse, sexual misconduct, and making careless—sometimes deadly—mistakes. But they’re still out there practicing.” There are a number of steps that hospitals and healthcare providers should take in order to prevent sexual abuse.

• All doctors and medical staff in a facility should undergo thorough background checks.
• Patients may need to be accompanied during sensitive examinations.
• Healthcare facilities should have anonymous reporting mechanisms for misconduct.

Healthcare practices have a legal obligation to protect patients from reasonably foreseeable sources of harm. This includes protecting people from sexual abuse and other forms of misconduct. If a facility knew or should have known that a doctor posed a risk of harm to patients and failed to act, this could form the basis of a negligence claim. A facility could also be liable for the negligent hiring, supervision, or retention of the perpetrator. There are several elements that must be demonstrated in a negligent retention claim.

• The doctor was unfit for their job or otherwise posed an unreasonable danger to patients.
• The doctor’s employer knew or should have known that they were unfit.
• The unfit nature of the doctor is what caused harm to the victim.
• A hospital’s negligent hiring, supervision, or retention of the doctor was a substantial factor in causing the harm.

Sexual abuse is often highly preventable in a medical setting. It tends to be the result of numerous people turning a blind eye to what is going on. By the time any doctor is arrested for sexual misconduct, there are often numerous red flags that are missed. It is critical that abuse victims understand that they do have legal rights. They are able to seek some measure of accountability through a civil claim.

Investigating Yorkville Sexual Assault

We at Horwitz Horwitz & Associates extend our best wishes to all of the people who may have been impacted by the actions of Doctor Edgar Archbold. Steps need to be taken to prevent similar forms of misconduct down the road. It is deeply unfortunate that someone in the medical profession would act in such a way.

Have you or someone that you care about been impacted by sexual abuse involving a medical professional in Illinois? You may have legal recourse. Our team of sexual abuse attorneys is here to help in any way that we can. We care deeply that abuse victims are aware of their rights and that those rights are being protected. Whether you just have legal questions or need a free, independent investigation into any incident, we are here for you. You can reach out to us anytime at (312) 564-4256.