Trial to start for Ligonier Twp. doctor accused of child sexual assault

Testimony is expected to begin Tuesday in the sexual assault trial of a Ligonier Township doctor charged with having improper contact with a teen.

Prosecutors contend Dr. Roy C. Monsour, 65, had repeated sexual contact with the teen between 2009-14.

Jury selection was completed Monday for the trial before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio.

Monsour is charged with three felony counts, indecent assault of a child less than 13, child endangerment and corruption of minors.

Ligonier police said Monsour’s accuser alleged that on one occasion he placed his hand on the child’s thigh for up to 45 minutes and would not allow the teen to move as they watched television.

Monsour is free on $100,000 unsecured bail.

Monsour has been a licensed physician since 1987, according to state records. His license was due to expire in December 2018. Records indicate the state Board of Medicine suspended Monsour the previous December, shortly after criminal charges were filed. His license status is still listed as suspended.

Monsour is the son of one of four brothers who founded the now-defunct Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette in the 1950s. The hospital was shuttered in 2006 after a series of failed state inspections. The abandoned complex was purchased by the county’s land bank in 2014 and demolished two years later. The property has since been purchased by a private company that announced plans to build a retail development on the site.