Accused Dentist’s Former Aide Arrested

Police have arrested on suspicion of conspiracy a former assistant to a Pasadena dentist accused of child abuse for allegedly over-sedating dozens of youngsters and leaving one teenage girl with brain damage.

Tina Yvette Tate, 34, a former assistant to Dr. Drueciel Ford, was taken into custody in Iowa on a warrant in connection with 11 counts of child abuse and one count of conspiracy.

Tate, a fugitive, was captured last Wednesday after an investigation led Pasadena police detectives to a relative’s home in that state. Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Albert H. MacKenzie said Tate is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail in Pasadena and will be arraigned Thursday.

In December, MacKenzie filed the criminal charges against Tate alleging that, from August 1991 until Ford’s arrest last year, she conspired with the dentist to commit child abuse, child endangerment, theft, insurance fraud and unlicensed practice of dentistry.

Meanwhile, Ford pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Pasadena Superior Court to 13 new charges, including conspiracy with Tate.

The 49-year-old dentist has already been ordered to stand trial on 34 felony child abuse counts, 14 misdemeanor counts of unprofessional conduct and one misdemeanor count of obstructing a paramedic.

Ford is accused of misusing chloral hydrate, a syrup administered orally to sedate youngsters, in a way that allowed her to cram more children into her schedule for financial gain.