Ex-TV Doctor Who Asked 9-Year-Old Girl For Naked Pictures Gets Sentenced

Before entering his plea, Dr. Bruce Hensel apologized to the victim’s family and hugged her father inside a downtown LA courtroom.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - AUGUST 22: Dr. Bruce Hensel, former Chief Health, Medical and Science Editor/Correspondent for NBC4 attends the Official Launch Party Of Dr. Garth Fisher's BioMed Spa at Garth Fisher MD on August 22, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - AUGUST 22: Dr. Bruce Hensel, former Chief Health, Medical and Science Editor/Correspondent for NBC4 attends the Official Launch Party Of Dr. Garth Fisher's BioMed Spa at Garth Fisher MD on August 22, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
Greg Doherty via Getty Images

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dr. Bruce Hensel, former medical correspondent for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, pleaded no contest Monday to charges he solicited nude pictures from a child.

Hensel was arrested in 2019 after prosecutors said he used a messaging app to request suggestive photos from the 9-year-old daughter of an acquaintance.

Before entering his plea, Hensel apologized to the victim’s family and hugged her father inside a downtown LA courtroom, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Hensel, 74, pleaded no contest to one count of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a crime. He was immediately ordered to register as a sex offender and sentenced to two years of probation, the Times reported.

“I’m terribly sorry for what happened. I’ve done everything I can to understand this isolated thing,” Hensel said in court.

Hensel repeatedly texted the child from March to August 2019, according to records submitted to the state Medical Board.

For three decades Hensel was the chief health, medical and science editor and correspondent for KNBC. He won multiple Emmys.

He was a practicing physician who is board certified in two specialties, internal medicine and emergency medicine.

Before You Go

"Young L.A. Girl Slain; Body Slashed in Two" ― L.A.'s Daily News

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