An Anthem doctor was arrested yesterday after he admitted to Maricopa
County sheriff's deputies that he had naked tickle parties with a
9-year-old boy. The parties entailed a lot more than naked tickling.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, the boy's mother contacted authorities last month saying her son claimed he and Dr. Don Underwood, a naturopath in Anthem, had played a naked "tickling game" with the doctor on several occasions.
Underwood and the victim's family were next door neighbors until he recently moved in with his mother. He even hired the victim's mother to work in his office.
Underwood befriended the family and began helping out by picking the victim and his brother up from school. As a doctor, authorities say, he began working with the victim to help treat his ADHD.
The mother says she trusted Underwood and her son would often sleep at his house.
The victim claims he and Underwood would often sleep naked together.
They would play a "tickle game" that often entailed playing with each
others' penises.
On November 16, Underwood dropped the victim off at his mother's house. The
victim had been staying with Underwood while she was out of state
at a funeral. The victim told his mother he wanted to stay with
Underwood longer, and told her about the "tickle game."
The victim says the game included him grabbing Underwood's penis with one hand, and rubbing "the top pink part" with the other.
Underwood, the boy says, would often put his penis in his mouth.
Underwood told police the victim would often instigate the "tickle game" and
he told him to stop every time he grabbed his penis. The victim says the
"tickle game" happened once a week since at least July.
During a confrontation call between Underwood and the mother, he
admitted to partaking in "the tickle game." He says the victim was
curious about sex, so he allowed him to touch his penis. He told the
mother he may have bumped into the victim's penis in the process.
As Underwood was being arrested, he asked to use his cell phone to call
his office. Deputies overheard him say something about destroying
something. When asked what he wanted destroyed, Underwood told deputies
he asked his office manager to destroy some "innocent" photos of the
victim he'd taken when the victim was swimming naked in his pool last
summer.
Underwood's been booked on seven counts of child molestation and three counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
