Psychiatrist accused of setting booby traps will keep his job
ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) — A psychiatrist for Jackson County in Southern Oregon still has his job while awaiting disposition of criminal charges alleging he set booby traps to hurt mountain bikers on national forest trails around Ashland.
County Administrator Danny Jordan told the Medford Mail Tribune that the county considers Jackson Tyler Dempsey innocent until proven guilty, and none of the alleged crimes happened while Dempsey was at work. Jordan added that Dempsey remains a licensed psychiatrist.
"He's afforded due process," Jordan said.
Dempsey was accused of stringing nylon cords and throwing out nails and other obstacles on trails shared by hikers and mountain bikers around Ashland. The charges are assault and reckless endangerment.
His lawyer, Carl Kaplan, had no comment.
Dempsey is to appear in court Oct. 29 to decide whether he wants to go to trial.
Some local mountain bikers were surprised to hear Dempsey was a psychiatrist.
"You would think a psychiatrist would be able to control his actions," said Rob Cain, president of the Ashland Woodland and Trails Association. "I think this guy was clearly delusional in his thinking. The irony is cruel."
Dempsey was arrested July 22 after some mountain bikers saw someone on a trail where small trees had been thrown across the path. The cyclists called in a description to the U.S. Forest Service.
"I think all of us, regardless of the type of user, recognized the potential severity of this," Cain said. "He could have easily created a quadriplegic, in the most severe case."
Jordan said the charges do not prevent Dempsey from doing his job.
"If he's able to perform the duties of his job, and he's able to be licensed, those are the job requirements," Jordan said.
If Dempsey is convicted, the Oregon Medical Board would do its own investigation, said board investigator Dave Lilly.
Information from: Mail Tribune
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Not only is this man a viscious predator - he is a psychiatric nightmare - inflicting mental torment on his victims, too. The pain and suffering he desires others to endure - by planning and plotting and deliberately putting all of those traps out - in order to catch and torture human beings.Â
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And he keeps his publicly paid job? Why am I not surprised? He keeps his Medical License, too. Come on...
I think in his defense he will say he was only adding to the difficulty levels of the trails in order to improve local athletes. 'That which does not kill them makes them stronger' sort of thing.
Well at least you know he knows what crazy looks like, he sees it everyday when he looks in the mirror
He should lose his Medical License. Â As a Psychiatrist, he is still an MD, and as all MD's have, he not only took an oath, but also vowed that he would firstly "do no harm". Â Setting traps on trails where mountain bikers ride sends a blatant message that he was interested in seeing them harmed, if not physically, then emotionally/psychologically.
Booby traps, is that the new name given to bras ????
 @onceagain They had me with the headline and then let me down. :(
Only if they are too tight!
Hmm...a psychiatrist? He might want to spend a few hours on his own couch.
Is this guy 16 or something. Its something I would have done as a irresponsible teen just for a laugh, but as an adult. Come on man!!
This is a very strange. The article does not state what his motives were, if known, nor whether anyone was hurt or came close to being hurt.Â
Weird...just...weird...! Â Â
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I'm not seeing anything to indicate that any of the bike riders or hikers were injured ~ sure hope they weren't, anyway..!
Two were in fact injured.Â
I smell a conspiracy theory...the guys first name is Jackson and he works in Jackson county!
@Dirtman We need 3 more Jacksons and we'll have a Jackson Five
This guy should not be working with people. Â He has too many problems.
Phychiatrists and psychologists only practice until they heal themselves and very few ever do.
@I812 You know why they call it "practice" right.?
Didn't this guy take an oath to "do no harm"?
 @WendyTeagarden Ok folks, this is Offbeat. Seriousness gene needs to be checked at the door. Thank you for your cooperation.
 @WendyTeagarden In truth, I do not think they have such an oath, if they did, then they couldn't prescribe the harmful cocktails they do. For Example some on Trazadone and Dizerpime (drugs may no linger be used today) can cause a patients heart rate to jump up to 168/104.
This is just wrong on so many levels.Â
1. Psychiatrists are, in fact, MDs. They do, in fact, take such an oath.
2. "Example" should not be capitlaized and should be followed by a comma.
3 What does "some on" mean? Do you mean "Someone?" If so, it is not the person who causes the heart rate to ju8mp up, It would be the drugs you mention..
4. The word "patients" should be "patient's."
5. 168/104 is not a pulse, but a measure of blood pressure.
 @badcat nice kitty.... here's some milk.....
 @Mechanic Lee is not known for having intelligent comments. He makes a lot of them, but they're clearly written by someone with a low IQ. In this case it's not just incredibly poor use of language, but Trazodone and what I expect he meant to read Diazepam are still widely used and rarely cause tachycardia or hypertension.
 @lee986321  @WendyTeagarden The Hippocratic Oath contains the phrase (in Latin) which translates "to abstain from doing harm." About 98% of medical students in the U.S. take the oath.