A longtime Cincinnati-area urologist who was celebrated by his own practice for his surgical work and public presentations is now facing felony charges, accused of sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled patient inside his medical office.
Dr. Michael Russo, 63, was arrested on August 4, 2026, by officers with the Union Township Police Department and booked into the Claremont County Jail in Ohio, east of Cincinnati. He was initially charged with rape and sexual battery. Days later, a grand jury indicted him on felony counts of rape, sexual battery and gross sexual imposition.
Russo has practiced medicine for more than 30 years and specialized in urology, a field in which the overwhelming majority of his patients were men. He worked with The Urology Group, a large practice that treats conditions of the kidneys, bladder and urinary tract, and also provides sexual health care. The practice had promoted him on its social media pages, as it did other physicians in the group. At the time of his arrest, his attorney told the court that Russo had already left the practice.
Russo was processed like any other inmate — handcuffed, searched, required to remove his shoes, and photographed for a booking mug shot both with and without his glasses.
What Prosecutors Say Happened
According to the criminal complaint, the alleged assault occurred on April 20, 2026, during an appointment at Russo’s office. The patient, a man with a diagnosed mental condition that prosecutors described as a substantial developmental delay, alleged that Russo asked him to perform a sex act, exposed himself, and engaged in sexual contact with him.
The complaint states that after the encounter ended, Russo told the patient, “This has to be between you and me.” Prosecutors argued in court that the remark amounted to a form of coercion.
The allegation did not come directly from the patient to police. An agency that provides services to the man — identified in court by the prosecutor as the Brown County Board of Developmental Disabilities — reported the alleged incident to law enforcement. The Ohio Medical Board was also notified and opened its own investigation.
On July 30, 2026, Ohio Medical Board investigator Joshua Dull interviewed Russo. According to the complaint, Russo acknowledged embracing and kissing the patient, said he became aroused, said he exposed himself, and confirmed that a sex act took place. He also acknowledged telling the patient the encounter had to remain between the two of them. Russo described the episode to the investigator as a “lack of judgment.”
On August 3, 2026, the patient was interviewed again and gave an account consistent with what Russo had described. Those two interviews led directly to Russo’s arrest the following day.
In court, the prosecutor said the patient’s disability was significant enough that he drew pictures to help investigators understand what had happened.
A Three-Month Gap Draws Scrutiny
The timeline laid out in court documents has raised questions. The alleged assault occurred April 20. It was reported to police on April 24. But the next documented step in the case did not come until July 30, when a medical board investigator — not a police detective — interviewed Russo.
Jay Clark, a criminal defense attorney who has practiced in the greater Cincinnati area for many years and is not involved in this case, said that gap is difficult to explain given the nature of the complaint.
“There is a gap in time that strikes me as almost unreasonable given the nature of the allegations,” Clark said. He noted that some departments operate under internal guidelines for closing out investigations, saying he believed Cincinnati’s is 28 days. “Here we have 90 days and there’s no indication that any investigation was done other than taking the initial report.”
Clark said the delay appears to have had one unintended consequence for the defense: because no one from law enforcement had contacted Russo, he sat for the medical board interview without an attorney and gave a full statement. “Had they gone and tried to contact him April 25th, 26th, whatever, this might have been taken care of 90 days ago in terms of filing charges and getting this admission,” he said.
During that stretch, Russo continued to see patients. Even days after the arrest, his photograph remained on the practice’s website and videos of him remained online. His medical license was still listed as active.
Clark said he does not believe the delay will damage the prosecution’s case, given that the patient’s account and Russo’s own statement to the investigator largely align. “There’s not much more you would need to successfully prosecute it,” he said. He added that from a defense perspective, the fact that Russo did not deny the allegations could be presented as mitigating, and that a case like this typically turns on mitigation — psychological evaluation, treatment and, in some instances, restitution or a sincere apology to the victim.
Bond, Indictment and What Comes Next
At Russo’s court appearance the morning after his arrest, prosecutors asked for a $2 million bond, calling the allegations “extremely disturbing.” They also told the judge they were concerned about Russo’s well-being after reviewing a jail call in which his wife told him, “Don’t hurt yourself.” The prosecutor said Russo’s own comments on that call suggested he had considered self-harm.
His attorney argued for a lower bond, telling the court that Russo is 63, has lived in Cincinnati since 1990, has family in the area, cooperated when detained, hired counsel and has no prior convictions.
Judge Garber said he considered Russo a potential flight risk, acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations and the concern that Russo might be a danger to himself, and set bond at $1 million. Russo was ordered to surrender his passport and wear a GPS monitor. He posted bail.
In a statement, the Claremont County Prosecutor’s Office said it and the Union Township Police Department “will not stand for a doctor violating the most sacred trust of his victim,” adding, “This case is even more egregious as the defendant knowingly took advantage of someone that could not resist his advances.”
Russo’s attorney, John O’Shea, declined a request for comment. No hearing has yet been scheduled for Russo to enter a plea. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Prosecutors are asking anyone who believes they were victimized by Russo to contact the Union Township Police Department in Claremont County, Ohio.
