Ex-Physician’s Assistant Sentenced For Sexual Assault In Douglas County

An ex-physician's assistant from Waterville has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail after pleading guilty to multiple charges.

The 364-day sentence was handed down to 73-year-old Eldon L. Leinweber in Douglas County Superior Court last month.

Leinweber's sentence stemmed from his prosecution by the Washington Attorney General's Office for sexually assaulting at least three female patients.

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Charging documents indicate Leinweber engaged in sexual acts with the women in exchange for issuing them prescriptions for narcotic pain killers, and that all of his victims had disclosed they were addicted to narcotics prior to the assaults.

The women told investigators that Leinweber inappropriately touched them and also invited some of them to locations outside of his clinic in Soap Lake.

The allegations against Leinweber surfaced in 2019 and attorney General Bob Ferguson initially filed charges of second- and third-degree rape, and indecent liberties against him last February.

Seven months later, Leinweber agreed to plead guilty to lesser misdemeanor charges of assault with sexual motivation and solicitation to commit unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver in September.

In addition to the jail sentence, Leinweber also agreed to surrender his medical license and will serve an additional year in community custody.

Leinweber will serve six months of his sentence behind bars, followed by six months of electronic home monitoring.