A dentist suspected of sexually assaulting children has apparently killed himself in Portland, police reported today.
A police tactical team preparing to search a home in the 1400 block of Southeast 46th Avenue on Monday discovered the corpse of 35-year-old Joshua Luke Moffitt. He appeared to have shot himself, authorities said.
Moffitt was under investigation for multiple sexual assaults of two youths -- both are now adults -- but police have not identified when they were allegedly assaulted, but did say the alleged assaults on both victims were outside his work as a dentist.
Detectives have learned that Moffitt also lived and worked in the Browning, Mont., area in the late 2000s and may have performed dental work on children at nearby Native American reservations," according to a news release.
The police bureau's Sex Crimes Unit learned that Moffitt worked as a dentist for the Tooth Taxi, a nonprofit agency that provided dental work for children across Oregon.
The 38-foot long motor home, a rolling dental clinic, is a partnership between the Dental Foundation of Oregon (the charitable arm of the Oregon Dental Association), OEA Choice Trust and ODS.
Since September 2008, the Tooth Taxi has visited nearly 200 sites in Oregon and staff and volunteers have screened more than 10,000 students. More than $2.7 million in dental services has been provided.
Katie Paullin, a spokeswoman for the ODS Health, said Moffitt joined the staff of the Dental Foundation of Oregon in July 2012 and was employed as dentist for the Tooth Taxi.
"It is our policy that no adult is ever left alone with a child,'' Paullin said.
Paullin said Tooth Taxi officials are cooperating with the investigation. ..Source.. by Bryan Denson
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