Life News
A man accused of committing illegal underground abortions without a license was found dead at the Clark County Detention Center where he was being held without bond pending trial.
Rick Van Thiel, 54, was found hanged in an apparent suicide on July 21, 2017.
Van Thiel was arrested and jailed in September, 2015, for conducting abortions and other quack medical treatments out of a grimy trailer in his junk-cluttered back yard. A local news reporter dubbed it the “Trailer of Terror.” He was never formally educated, trained, or licensed in the field of medicine. His background was instead that of a pornographic movie star/maker and inventor of sex toys.
Van Thiel bragged during an interview from jail shortly after his arrest that he learned to do abortions by watching YouTube videos.
A Clark County grand jury issued 30 felony indictments against Van Thiel in June 2016, including:
• 19 counts of engaging as a medical physician without a license
• 6 counts of sexual assault resulting in substantial bodily harm
• 2 counts of sexual assault
• 2 counts performance of a health care procedure resulting in substantial bodily harm
• 1 count child abuse, neglect, or endangerment
Rick Van Thiel, 54, was found hanged in an apparent suicide on July 21, 2017.
Van Thiel was arrested and jailed in September, 2015, for conducting abortions and other quack medical treatments out of a grimy trailer in his junk-cluttered back yard. A local news reporter dubbed it the “Trailer of Terror.” He was never formally educated, trained, or licensed in the field of medicine. His background was instead that of a pornographic movie star/maker and inventor of sex toys.
Van Thiel bragged during an interview from jail shortly after his arrest that he learned to do abortions by watching YouTube videos.
A Clark County grand jury issued 30 felony indictments against Van Thiel in June 2016, including:
• 19 counts of engaging as a medical physician without a license
• 6 counts of sexual assault resulting in substantial bodily harm
• 2 counts of sexual assault
• 2 counts performance of a health care procedure resulting in substantial bodily harm
• 1 count child abuse, neglect, or endangerment
As a five-time convicted felon, Van Thiel was also charged with three federal firearms violations. A judge had ruled to suppress information about the firearms charges during his state trial, which was set for January 20, 2017.
Van Thiel was an opportunist. Like many charlatans before him, he saw that offering cut-rate abortions and quack “holistic” cures to hookers and other vulnerable women was a viable means to quick cash. He lured customers through several seedy “adult” websites and by word of mouth.
“It is a shame that Van Thiel took his own life. As long as he was living, there was hope for his redemption,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “However, he will never hurt another person again, and that is something to be grateful for, however tragic the circumstances might be.”Life News continues
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