Oprah’s Favorite Paranormal Pediatrician Accused Of Waterboarding Daughter

A famous doctor for kids has had his license abruptly suspended by the state of Delaware after he was charged with endangering the life of his own daughter in an alleged “waterboarding” incident. And it only gets weirder from there.

Dr. Melvin Morse and his wife Pauline were charged with various felonies after their 11-year-old told police that her father had held her face under a running faucet. Morse is well known for his work on near-death experiences, having appeared on “Larry King Live” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to discuss his finding. He’s also been featured in “Unsolved Mysteries” and “Rolling Stone.”

Morse seeks to reconcile New Age spirituality with neuroscience, though not in expert in either, judging from his website Spiritual Scientific. The poorly edited website includes lengthy details about his work and some biographical details such as this slightly outdated doozie:

He has two daughters, Anna, age 9, and Melody Grace, (age 4). They are both joyous rainbows of light. He also has two estranged teenagers, an angry ex-wife, and two adult children who never speak to him, one who says “you are not my Dad”. He also has an gifted and loving adult daughter and two extraordinary grandchildren, Baby Charlotte, and Tristan. And he has the world’s greatest son-in-law.  We include this to emphasize that we are real people, with real problems. We have road tested in our own sometimes chaotic lives everything we teach in our workshops.

Yes, the slipping between first person plural and third person happens throughout the website.

From the Associated Press:

At the time of Tuesday’s arrest, Morse, 58, was out on bail on misdemeanor charges of assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Those charges stemmed from a July incident in which authorities allege Morse grabbed the 11-year-old by the ankle and, as her 6-year-old sister watched, dragged her across a gravel driveway, took her inside the family’s home and began spanking her.

When she was interviewed again Monday, the older girl told investigators that beginning in 2009, her father had disciplined her by what he told her was “waterboarding.” State police said the girl was subjected to such punishment at least four times and that her mother witnessed some of the incidents but did not stop them.

But Joe Hurley, an attorney representing Morse, said the situation is complex:

Hurley said the 11-year-old has some “opposition issues” and had complained to her parents several years ago about being abused by a half-sibling. He said the parents contacted authorities and the half-sibling was arrested, but that the girl confessed months later that the incident never happened and that she just didn’t want the half-sibling living in the house.

Hoo boy. Sounds messy.

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