Note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault. If you or someone you know may be a victim of sexual assault, confidential support, information and advice are available at the National Sexual Assault Hotline by calling800-656-4673. Text chat is also available online.
The trial for a West Linn doctor charged earlier this year with sexually abusing his patients — originally set to begin this week — will now start sometime next year.
David Farley pleaded not guilty in October to 11 counts of sexual abuse of the women and girls who came to him for medical treatment.
David Farley attends his arraignment from jail at the Clackamas County Courthouse on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025 in Oregon City, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
After posting a reduced bail, the former family physician returned to Utah, where he has lived for the past few years.
Three weeks after the charges were filed, Farley’s attorneys asked the court to move the trial back by six months.
“Given the tremendous amount of discovery provided thus far, and the fact that significant amounts of additional discovery is apparently still forthcoming, the parties require more time to prepare for trial,” Farley’s attorney Jacob Houze wrote in an Oct. 30 court filing.
Houze stated prosecutors had given them more than 70,000 pages of discovery material as a starting point.
A judge has not issued a formal order in response to the request, but the court’s calendar notes that the originally scheduled trial date of Dec. 3 was canceled.
Farley’s attorneys and the case’s prosecutors are set to meet with a judge for a status check later in December. Oregon Department of Justice spokesperson Jenny Hansson said the parties are still working to set a new trial date.
A trial for a separate civil case against Farley is still scheduled to begin in January.
Allegations of sexual abuse against Farley first emerged five years ago. Since then, more than 180 women and girls have accused him of abuse in the civil lawsuit now seeking nearly $1 billion. Attorneys for the women said Farley masked his abuse under the guise of legitimate medical care.
The longtime family practice doctor gave up his Oregon medical license in 2020 after the state medical board found he engaged in sexual misconduct by photographing nude children and performing invasive pelvic exams on girls before the medically recommended age.
The road to criminal consequences has been a long one. Two years after news of the allegations against Farley first broke, a grand jury declined to bring charges against him.
The alleged victims were sharply critical of the local police and prosecutors who handled that investigation and pushed for the Oregon Department of Justice to take up their case. The state agreed to look into the case in 2022 and eventually moved forward with the October indictment.
