Edited at 7:06 p.m. May 6.

BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

CANTON – Rensselaer Falls Mental Health Counselor Thomas Doyle is accused of misrepresenting himself as a certified psychologist in St. Lawrence County Family Court, raising questions about hundreds of testimonies he’s provided as an expert witness over the past 16 years.

Court transcripts show Doyle testified under oath that he is a licensed psychologist in the state of New York, but a response to a Freedom of Information Law request provided to North Country This Week says that Doyle is not and has never been licensed as a psychologist in New York State.

The difference between a Mental Health Counselor and Clinical Psychologist may seem small to some, but Doyle has acted as an expert witness in hundreds of family court cases in St. Lawrence County over the past 16 or more years.

The testimony given by Doyle may have influenced the outcomes of child placements in some of those cases.

Discrepancy Revealed

The issue came to light at a recent family court hearing. A transcript of the hearing obtained by North Country This Week shows that Doyle did indeed claim to have the psychology license that the state says he does not have.

Community Helping Individuals Living in Distress (CHILD) founder Courtney Fantone said she was instructed by state officials to report the discrepancy to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

She said that occurred after she filed a Freedom of Information Law request about the validity of his psychology certification.

CHILD is an advocacy organization that acts on behalf of families trying to navigate foster care and has been at odds with the St. Lawrence County Department of Social Services.

In a prepared statement released May 6, Fantone said her organization would be filing complaints with the Office of Professional Disciplines, the Attorney General, and The FBI.

“In my conversations with employees at the New York State Education Department(NYSED) Office of the Professions, I was told on numerous occasions that Thomas E. Doyle does not hold a license in Psychology in the State of New York. This was concerning because Mr. Doyle had recently testified, under oath, that he not only currently possesses this license, but that he has held it for the past 16 years,” she said.

The revelation also raised major concerns for Potsdam Attorney Benjamin Johns who often represents children in family court.

He said that Doyle’s misrepresentation of his license is no small matter.

“I’m concerned for the children and parents that I represent. I think they should get the level of care they are told they are getting and they deserve it,” he said. “We would not allow this to happen to our children and we shouldn’t allow it to happen to foster children,” he said.

Johns said he only recently became aware of the discrepancy, and pursued his own research to confirm it.

Johns said he’s hopeful that Doyle will never be allowed to testify inappropriately again and that he should face any legal consequences associated with his actions. He is concerned that the seriousness of the matter may be overlooked and is hopeful proper authorities will undertake an investigation.

More than a thousand impacted?

Attempts to reach Doyle for comment on the matter were unsuccessful Friday afternoon.

However, his CV submitted to the court indicates that his Doctorate was in “Philosophy of Human Behavior,” which he received from Newport University, which appears to be an international online college that may not be accredited in the United States.

Records show he also has worked in the field of mental health since the late 1980s including time as a part-time psychology consultant to Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center Inpatient Psychiatric Adult Unit from 2011 to the present. He was also a Part-time Mental Health Consultant to St. Lawrence County Family Court and St. Lawrence County Department of Social Services from March 2012 to the present.

His CV also indicates that he worked as a Psychologist and Lead Therapist for Inpatient Children and Youth Services where he served as acting Chief of Services for Children and Youth Inpatient Units from 2005-2006 at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg where he was employed from 2000 to 2011.

A court transcript shows Doyle said that he has served as an expert witness “at least several hundred” times.

“You also regularly conduct examinations on behalf of the Department of Social Services and other parties. Isn’t that right?” An attorney representing the St. Lawrence County Department of Social Serivces at the hearing asks Doyle in the court transcript.

“That’s correct,” Doyle responds.

“And how many times have you done that?” The attorney asks.

“Well over a thousand,” Doyle said.

It’s unclear at this time if Doyle performed examinations outside the scope of what his Mental Health Counselor License allows or whether or not he charged, billed or identified himself as a psychologist in other instances.

However, Johns noted that Doyle’s reports were much shorter than those provided by other psychologists he’s received during his time as an attorney.

Doyle has apparently been a go-to psychologist for the St. Lawrence County Department of Social Services for more than a decade. Fantone expressed serious concerns about what that means to the cases he’s been involved in.

Fantone said the questions raised about Doyle are “nauseating.”

“By his own account, Thomas Doyle has touched the lives of thousands of families in this county; whether by way of testimony, evaluation, or recommendation. To think that he may not have been properly qualified or credentialed to adequately undertake this task, is absolutely nauseating. We are talking about a person purporting to be something that he is not, which in itself is a legal crime; however, it becomes a moral and ethical crime when he, for a price, is making recommendations that he is not qualified to make, which have the potential to have a profoundly negative impact on the lives of vulnerable children and their families,” Fantone said.

She questioned to what extent his opinions have influenced the placements of children.

“We all, even those of us who have not been directly impacted by this issue, should be asking some serious questions here; starting with how many parent’s rights have been terminated, or on the flipside, how many children have been placed in dangerous situations as a result of this man’s recommendations, and how do we rectify that harm? I personally do not know what rectification looks like in a situation as egregious as this. I am certainly not suggesting that prior adoptions or reunifications be disrupted, as that would likely cause more trauma to a child, but justice is undeniably owed to these families.”

St. Lawrence County officials say they are aware of the allegations.

“We have recently been made aware of these allegations with respect to Dr. Doyle. We are still evaluating the information being presented to us and will take appropriate action upon review of the materials we have,” St. Lawrence County Attorney Stephen Button said.