LOS ANGELES – A long-time medical correspondent for a Southland television station received no jail time after he pleaded no contest to asking a 9-year-old girl to send him “sexy and private” nude photos, according to reports.
Dr. Bruce Hensel, 74, served as the chief medical correspondent with KNBC in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years, reporting on medical issues and answering viewer questions in a segment called “Ask Dr. Bruce.” On Monday in a Los Angeles courtroom he apologized to the young victim’s family and even hugged her father — who is an acquaintance — as he entered his plea, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I’m terribly sorry for what happened. I’ve done everything I can to understand this isolated thing,” he said when pleading no contest to the charge.
Following his plea, Hensel was immediately sentenced to two years probation and ordered to register as a sex offender, according to Deputy District Attorney Angela Brunson, NBC Los Angeles reported.
The well-known Emmy Award winning TV physician claimed he’d never done anything like this before and vowed to never do it again, the New York Post reported.
On or about Aug. 4, 2019, Hensel used an online messaging app to contact the girl requesting illicit images. He was arrested by LAPD in Beverly Hills in November 2019 and subsequently charged with the crime. He was released from custody after posting $5,000 bond, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Shortly after Hensel’s 2019 arrest, LAPD officials disclosed that investigators with the Los Angeles Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force had served a search warrant at the offender’s residence. Police said the investigation focused on “inappropriate messages and photographs” being shared “between a child and a person believed to be Bruce Hensel.”
A no contest plea allows a defendant in a criminal prosecution to accept a conviction without admitting guilt.
