Podiatrist accused of sexual battery against patient. Detectives think there may be more victims

A Palm Beach County podiatrist was arrested Friday after a patient said he sexually assaulted her during an appointment, and multiple other victims said they had similar experiences before, court records say.

Saul Lipsman, 77, who has an office in Lake Worth Beach, is facing one count of sexual battery on a person over 18 years old. Authorities began investigating Lipsman earlier this year after a woman reported him in March, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

The 61-year-old woman had an initial appointment with Lipsman in March while visiting her parents in South Florida. She complained of foot pain, so her parents recommended she meet with Lipsman, the podiatrist they knew for nearly 20 years, a probable cause affidavit said.

The woman told authorities her first impression of Lipsman was that he was “weird,” the affidavit said, but he gave her an injection that helped the pain. The next day, Lipsman called the woman’s cellphone and said he had a new cream and asked her to come back to his office.

When she returned, she and her father were the only people inside the office, the affidavit said. The woman’s father brought her to the appointment, and Lipsman asked him to wait in an area outside of the room.

Inside an exam room, he assaulted her, the affidavit said.

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Lipsman called her again the next day but she didn’t answer. As deputies investigated, they learned two other women filed reports with similar accusations against Lipsman, one in 2014 and one in 2016, the affidavit said.

Deputies interviewed Lipsman in July at his office in Lake Worth Beach, according to the affidavit. He denied the woman’s account of what happened.

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office said detectives think there may be more victims and ask anyone who may have been a victim to contact Det. Jessica Guarducci at 561-688-4148 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

Lipsman has been released in lieu of a $10,000 bond and was required to surrender his passport to his attorney’s office, court records say.