Melvin L. Morse


Melvin L. Morse is an American medical doctor who specialized in pediatrics. He was voted by his peers as one of "America's Best Doctors" in 1997–1998, 2001–2002, and 2005–2006. He has published numerous scientific articles in medical journals over the course of his thirty-year career. As the author of several books, Morse has appeared on many talk show and television programs to discuss his extensive research on near-death experiences in children.
His 1991 book Closer to the Light was a bestseller. Oprah Winfrey interviewed Morse about this book in 1992. Larry King interviewed Morse in 2010. The PBS show Upon Reflection produced a half-hour episode devoted to Morse. He was the subject of an article in the Rolling Stone magazine in 2004 entitled "In search of the Dead Zone".
In 2012, Morse and his second wife were charged with felony child endangerment based on allegations made by his eleven-year-old step-daughter, Anna Morse. During Morse's 2014 trial, he was dubbed as the "waterboarding doctor" by the media. Trial testimony did not substantiate any instances of "waterboarding" as the term is generally understood; however, Morse was convicted of reckless endangerment and was sentenced to serve three years in prison.
Morse was released from Sussex County Correctional Institution in 2016. According to Kahlil Peterkin, Clinical Supervisor of the prison's therapeutic Key program and Morse's therapist of thirteen months, Morse underwent a transformation while incarcerated. Peterkin also reported Morse was well-respected by his fellow inmates and considered a leader in prison. He taught fellow inmates meditation techniques which Peterkin also described as 'transformative" in the lives of the men who learned and practiced them.
Following his release, Morse co-founded The Recidivism Prevention Group, a company dedicated to assisting addicts and former inmates in developing spiritual understandings to re-enter society as productive members. The group uses meditation techniques to accomplish these goals. Morse now resides in Washington, DC.

Early life and education

Morse graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Natural Science. Morse earned a medical degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 1980. He interned in Pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco, and then completed a residency in Pediatrics at Seattle Children's Hospital. He subsequently completed a two-year fellowship in Hematology/Oncology and a one-year fellowship in Behavioral Pediatrics.

Career

Morse practiced Pediatrics in Renton, Washington for 20 years. He was an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1986, Morse worked for a year as a pediatrician at Fort Hall, Idaho for the Indian Health Service. He retired from the full-time practice of Pediatrics in 2006 before moving to Delaware in 2007. Prior to his arrest, he was working as a pediatrician at an office in Milton, Delaware. After his arrest on child endangerment charges in 2012, his Delaware license was suspended.
In 2007, Morse became the Research Director of the Institute for the Scientific Study of Consciousness founded by Charles Tart in 1979. While Director of ISSC, he was awarded the Warcollier International Prize for consciousness research in 2011.

Publications

Morse has been married twice, and has six children, five of whom are adopted. He is in regular contact all his children. Delaware Family Court has not restricted his access to his daughter Melody.

Reckless Endangerment Conviction

In August 2012, Morse and his wife Pauline were arrested for felony child endangerment based on allegations of "waterboarding" made by his eleven-year-old step-daughter, Anna. He was also accused by Delaware State Police of force-feeding the eleven-year-old girl until she threw up, among other child abuses.
Morse's trial started on January 28, 2014 at the Sussex County Superior Court in Delaware. The accusation made by the State Police that Morse had force-fed his step-daughter was not substantiated at trial. The step-daughter testified at trial that she vomited due to overeating, not force feeding.
Morse placed her in the bathtub and ran water over her head to rinse the vomit out of her hair. This was the testimony which spawned the term "waterboarding" by the prosecution and the media. The trial transcripts contain no testimony regarding any instances of "waterboarding" in the context of torture as it is known today.
Morse was convicted of one felony count of first-degree reckless endangerment and five misdemeanor charges. He was sentenced to a five-year sentence, with three years to be served in prison and two on probation. His wife pled guilty to misdemeanor charges.
Anna confirmed that the occasion of "washing vomit out of her hair" was not the only occasion of "waterboarding". That name that he had given the act. The eleven year old step daughter stated that on at least four more memorable occasions, he had held her face under a kitchen sink faucet with the shower mode turned on. He allegedly held her arms down to avoid getting scratched as she struggled. But her lawyer refused to bring this into the trial because it was unreliable.