LOS ANGELES — A man who once served as NBC’s chief on-air medical correspondent in Los Angeles pleaded no contest Monday to charges he solicited nude pictures from a child, after apologizing to the victim’s family and hugging her father inside a downtown courtroom.
Dr. Bruce Hensel, 74, pleaded no contest to one count of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a crime and was immediately ordered to register as a sex offender and sentenced to two years of probation. Hensel was first arrested by Los Angeles police in 2019 on accusations that he contacted the 9-year-old daughter of an acquaintance and asked her for nude photos.
There was little doubt about Hensel’s guilt. A transcript of the text messages was included in a filing submitted to the state Medical Board last year, and showed Hensel repeatedly asking the girl for photos that were “sexy and private.” But prosecutors and Hensel’s defense attorney, Leonard Levine, had been haggling over the terms of a plea deal for months.
