Iowa dentist with history of alleged sex violations faces new charges

An Iowa dentist with a history of alleged sexual misconduct with multiple patients is facing another set of sex-related charges from state regulators.

In December, the Iowa Board of Dentistry declared that 65-year-old Dr. Calvin Weber of Glenwood posed “an imminent threat to public safety” and suspended his license on an emergency basis. The action came four months after Weber was criminally charged with assaulting a female outside his office.

The board action, which was made public only this week, accuses Weber of improper sexual contact with a patient or making lewd, lascivious, or improper remarks or advances to a patient, and with violating Iowa law with regard to the practice of dentistry.

In keeping with a 2022 Iowa Supreme Court ruling, the board has not made public the specific conduct that gave rise to the charges other than to say that Weber was practicing in Glenwood when the alleged violations occurred.

Weber, who was first licensed by the state in 1983, has a history of alleged misconduct with female patients. In July 1993, he was charged with unprofessional conduct in the practice of dentistry and accused of inappropriately touching two female patients -- one of whom was 17 years old -- during their dental appointments.

According to the board, the teenager was recovering from sedation related to the extraction of wisdom teeth when Weber entered the operatory and “proceeded to inappropriately touch” the patient while she was in the dental chair.

The second patient, who was 25 years old at the time, went to Weber for routine dental work in 1992. She later told investigators Weber “pushed” for her to be sedated, saying all of the teenagers enjoyed it. At the first appointment when she was sedated, she woke up and found that her clothes were disheveled and she felt pain in her pubic bone. At her second appointment, she allegedly awoke and heard Weber making suggestive remarks while inappropriately touching her.

One month after those charges were filed, Weber was accused of misconduct with two additional patients. In the first of the two new cases, a female patient allegedly awoke from sedation to find Weber inappropriately touching her. In the second of two new cases, the board alleged that as a female patient was waking up from sedation, she could hear Weber talking to her, making “unprofessional and inappropriate” comments.

During a subsequent hearing on the matter, the teenager testified that Weber had told her she had pretty hair and was a pretty girl and then, in trying to determine the appropriate dose of Valium, asked her, “How many beers does it take to get you drunk?”

The girl testified that Weber touched her breast over her clothes and put his finger through a hole in her jeans and touched the skin of her upper thigh, near her vaginal area. Weber allegedly told the girl he was married but added that “there’s always fooling around on the side.”

The board alleges Weber later gave the girl a ride home and that during the ride, he reached over and touched her leg and suggested she make an appointment for them to be in the office alone.

The next day, after filing a complaint with the Glenwood police, the girl came home to find answer-machine messages from Weber in which he apologized about “this whole thing” and for “any misunderstanding.” The tape of the message was later provided to the board.

At the board hearing, an expert witness for Weber testified that Valium can cause auditory or visual hallucinations and can cause patients to “misunderstand” touching. Weber’s dental assistant testified that she was with the patient during the entire visit to the dental office and that nothing inappropriate occurred.

The second patient in the case testified that Weber had driven her home after one appointment and that during a subsequent visit, she awoke from sedation to find Weber’s hand beneath her blouse, touching her breast while calling her sexy.

She said Weber later asked her out and the two had consensual sex at his home. She later described elements of Weber’s anatomy and the layout of his home for investigators. Weber argued the woman may have ascertained the details of his house from looking in the windows.

The third patient testified that when she awoke from a procedure in Weber’s office, she felt his hand on her right breast, moving up and down, a claim that was denied by Weber’s dental assistant. The fourth patient testified that when she awoke from sedation, she heard Weber say something about “going out together” or having a “hot time together.” She said that when she opened her eyes, she saw Weber looking at her and noticed the dental assistant was in the room.

The board concluded the testimony of the first three patients was credible and that the fourth patient may have heard comments Weber was directing to his assistant. The board also concluded Weber lied during his testimony, and it suspended his license indefinitely while ordering him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation within 60 days before being considered for reinstatement.

Four months later, in April 1994, the board accused Weber of failing to submit to an evaluation and Weber agreed to surrender his license. After surrendering his Iowa license, Weber moved to Florida where he was employed as a golf professional, board records show.

Early in 2006, Weber contacted the board to ask what steps he would need to take to have his Iowa dentistry license reinstated. In December 2006, after Weber submitted to an evaluation, took a test of his skills in dentistry, and agreed to undergo ongoing therapy, the board agreed to reinstate his dental license subject to certain probationary conditions.

In October 2011, the board agreed to Weber’s request to terminate his probation and reinstate his license free and clear of any probationary restrictions.

Police records show that in July 2023, a woman came to the Glenwood Police Department and complained that she while she was in Weber’s dental office, he made comments on how sexy she was and grabbed her buttocks. She reported that he then followed her outside of the building and again grabbed her buttocks, pulling her close to him and telling her, “Keep being sexy.”

As a result of the allegations, police charged Weber with assault, a simple misdemeanor, in August 2023. In December, a judge found Weber guilty of assault and fined him $855.

Weber could not be reached for comment. A hearing in the current licensing board case was initially scheduled for Friday, but it has since been canceled and has yet to be rescheduled.

This article was originally published in the Iowa Capital Dispatch and republished by DrBicuspid under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. The Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence.

Deputy Editor Clark Kauffman has worked during the past 30 years as both an investigative reporter and editorial writer at two of Iowa’s largest newspapers, the Des Moines Register and the Quad-City Times.