Woman from Palm Harbor accuses doctor of groping

A Dade City doctor says the woman's claims are baseless.

By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 11, 2002

DADE CITY -- A Palm Harbor pharmaceutical saleswoman has filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court against a Dade City doctor, claiming he sexually assaulted her after a round of golf at the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club.

The doctor, Edwin Colon, denied the claim.

Marjorie Salame, 37, claims in a lawsuit filed July 3 in Dade City that she had just finished playing golf with Dr. Dan McBride on May 22 when she ran into Colon at the clubhouse. About 8 p.m., she realized she had lost her car keys and called her company to have a second set brought to her.

While she was waiting for the keys to arrive, Salame claims Colon offered to let her ride with him to his farm to watch him feed his pigs. There, the lawsuit claims, Colon touched her and said she was not wearing underwear.

In the lawsuit, filed by Clearwater attorney Andrew Salzman, Salame claimed Colon ignored her requests to stop touching her.

Colon, 43, works at the Comprehensive Pain Management clinic in Dade City. He said recently that he knew the woman through her job as a saleswoman but never touched her. He said she had been drinking alcohol at the golf club before he drove her to his farm. He said he does not know why she would make up a story but said it is false.

Pasco County Sheriff's Office records show no indication that Colon was ever the subject of a sexual assault investigation, a Sheriff's Office spokesman said. Court records show no charges have been filed against him by any agency.

The St. Petersburg Times typically does not publish names of those making sexual assault allegations but decided in this case to print Salame's name because no crime was ever reported, and a civil complaint was filed.

Colon's attorney, Bob Bonanno of Tampa, said his client was aware that Salame had been spreading rumors about him recently and considered suing her for slander but feared filing a lawsuit publicly would spread the rumors.

"That has changed," Bonanno said.

He said he expected he would file a countersuit soon now that the allegations are public.

Salame's lawsuit is filed on grounds of assault, battery and false imprisonment. It seeks unspecified damages above the $15,000 minimum required to place a suit in circuit court.

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