Delaware Dad Accused Of 'Waterboarding' Is Pediatrician - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

Another Delaware pediatrician is in serious trouble with the law.

State police say Dr. Melvin Morse used near-drowning as a form of discipline against his own daughter.  They say he even called it "waterboarding," which is more commonly associated with terrorists.

Melvin Morse is supposed to be highly respected.  He's a physician, researcher, and expert who's appeared on several TV shows.  On his website, he also claims to be Oprah's favorite pediatrician.  But according to Delaware State Police, he's also a child abuser who tortured his own young daughter.

"She explained the act of waterboarding as him taking her head and submerging her underneath the faucet while it was running," Cpl. Gary Fournier of the Delaware State Police explained to Fox 29.  "The water then would run up her nose, causing her to gag or lose her breath, and be unable to breathe."

Dr. Morse talks extensively on his website about near-death experiences among children.  Investigators say he gave his daughter several of them at their home in Georgetown. One time outside, they say he held her mouth and nose shut until she lost feeling and collapsed to the ground.  Another time, "She was taken out of her car, dragged by her ankles into her house, where she received a spanking," Cpl. Fournier said.

Police say when Dr. Morse waterboarded his daughter inside their home, he told her she could go five minutes without oxygen before brain damage would occur.  When she tried to run, court documents say Morse warned her it would be even worse when he caught her.  Police say it happened repeatedly over two years, beginning when his daughter was only eight years old.  

Just as horrifying, investigators say the girl's mother Pauline Morse knew what was going on.  "Pauline actually witnessed a couple of these episodes, watching her daughter be submerged underneath the water," Cpl. Fournier said. "She took no action."

Until May, Dr. Morse worked one day a week at Scott Pediatrics in Milton.  A lawyer for Dr. Lowell Scott told Fox 29 Dr. Scott had no first-hand knowledge of Morse's activities, but would not comment further.  So far, no parents there have complained to police about Dr. Morse. As of late Wednesday afternoon, he remained locked up.