Dr. Bruce Hensel appears in court (NBC 4 screengrab)
An Emmy Award-winning TV doctor formerly employed by NBC must register as a sex offender after pleading no contest to allegations that he asked a 9-year-old girl to send him nude images, Los Angeles prosecutors announced.
Dr. Bruce Martin Hensel, now 74 years old, pleaded no contest Monday to felony contact with a minor for a sexual purpose. Although the nolo contendere plea means the defendant technically didn’t admit guilt, Hensel reportedly acknowledged he was “terribly sorry for what happened” and must nonetheless register as a sex offender.
According to Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, “what happened” is that Hensel asked an unidentified acquaintance’s 9-year-old daughter — an aspiring actress — to send him nude photos via WeChat.
“[T]he Los Angeles Police Department’s Northeast Division began a child sexual exploitation investigation involving a nine-year-old child where inappropriate messages and photographs were shared between a child and a person believed to be Bruce Hensel,” cops said in 2019. “Since the contact was made by way of the internet – Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detectives assumed investigative responsibility.”
On Oct. 16, 2019, a search warrant was executed on Hensel’s home, cops said. Roughly month later, he was taken into custody and charged.
“On November 13, 2019, around 10:15 a.m., Bruce Hensel was arrested in the 9600 block of Santa Monica Blvd in connection with the ensuing investigation. Hensel was subsequently booked into the Los Angeles Police Department’s Metropolitan Detention Center for 288.3(a)PC (Contact with a Minor with Purpose of Sexual Act) where his bail was set at $5,000.00,” LAPD said.
Dr. Bruce Hensel pictured in 2019 after arrest (Image via ABC 7 screengrab)
Fast forward to March 2023, and the former go-to medical expert for decades at KNBC must register as a sex offender.
The LA Times reported that the victim’s father offered a hug and forgiveness to the defendant in court while slamming the disgraced physician for betraying the Hippocratic Oath.
With the plea, Hensel avoided time behind bars. In addition to registering as a sex offender, he must serve two years of probation, prosecutors confirmed to Law&Crime. The plea was reached after prosecutors consulted with the victim’s family, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said. Hensel was also ordered to attend 52 weeks of sex offender counseling.
The defendant reportedly claimed in court that this incident was an “isolated thing.”
When pursuing the revocation of the physician’s license in March 2022, the California Medical Board detailed the allegations that Hensel referred to the victim as “honey” and repeatedly asked her for “sexy” photos. Hensel was accused of asking the 9-year-old girl to send him “fully body” nude selfies, which the defendant allegedly claimed would help the child land an acting role. One alleged exchange was as follows:
Hensel: “it would have to be in bedroom or underwear or less.”
Victim: “Underwear?!?! […] Hold on let me get naked.”
Hensel: “Ok. Great But private. Just between me and you… if you are going to get naked for this maybe we should erase the notes here and do it in email or we can start here up to you.”
A court order issued in 2020 said that Hensel, as condition of his bail, was barred from “practicing medicine on minors,” ordered “not [to] opine about pediatric health,” and prohibited from being in the “presence of minors without written guardian approval.”
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