West Palm Beach podiatrist accused of raping woman

Detectives say Dr. Scott Strolla had nude photos of passed out woman on phone

Dr. Scott Strolla is accused of raping a woman and recording her naked body with his cellphone while she was passed out in his bed.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A West Palm Beach doctor is accused of raping a woman and recording her naked body while she was passed out after spending a day with her in April.

Dr. Scott Strolla was arrested Wednesday by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. He faces charges of sexual assault and video voyeurism.

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According to an arrest report, the woman told deputies she with friends at Lynora's on Clematis Street when Strolla, who recognized her as one of his Facebook friends, approached her and bought her several drinks. The woman said Strolla offered her and her friends some of his breakfast pizza, which they ate, and then invited them to go to a nearby bar, where he purchased her another drink.

The woman told deputies that she felt nauseous shortly after having the drink and ran to the restroom, where she vomited on the floor. She said she remembered waking up at Strolla's house with him on top of her, so she requested an Uber driver and ran out of his front door, down the street and hid in the bushes as she called 911.

Detectives said they interviewed Strolla the next day at his home in Palm Beach Gardens.

According to the report, Strolla said he met the woman and her friends at Lynora's, offered them food and drinks and then went to Sketch with them. However, Strolla said the woman was "holding his hand and kissing him" at the restaurant. He said the woman told him that she wasn't feeling well when they got to the bar, so he assumed that she went to the bathroom to vomit. He said she didn't appear to be impaired, but she told him that she was too intoxicated to drive, so he drove her home and took her upstairs to the master bedroom.

Strolla said he put her in bed, leaving her underwear and bra on, got into the bed with her and started kissing her all over her body, the report said. Strolla said the woman received a text message while he was performing oral sex on her, and she told him that she had to leave immediately. Strolla said he offered to drive her home, but she opted to take an Uber instead.

The 50-year-old podiatrist said he never had sex with her and denied taking pictures of her.

However, when detectives executed a search warrant and inspected the content of Strolla's cellphone, they found  photos of the woman's vagina, breasts and buttocks while she was passed out and lying on his bed, the report said.

"Scott Strolla's DNA cannot be excluded as a contributor to the major DNA profile for the DNA found" on the woman at the hospital, detectives concluded.


About the Author:

Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.