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Dr. Bruce Hensel Charged With Soliciting 'Sexually Suggestive Pictures' From Acquaintance's 9-Year-Old Daughter

PACIFIC PALISADES (CBSLA) — Former television medical correspondent Dr. Bruce Hensel was charged Wednesday with asking a 9-year-old girl to send him sexually suggestive pictures, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced.

According to the LAPD, investigators from their Northeast Division began a child sexual exploitation investigation involving a nine-year-old child where inappropriate messages and photographs were shared between a child and a person believed to be Bruce Hensel.

The 71-year-old was arrested at 10:15 a.m. in the 9600 block of Santa Monica Blvd in connection with the investigation.

Hensel was later charged with requesting images from the daughter of an acquaintance through a messaging app on or about Aug. 4, the prosecutor said.

According to Deputy District Attorney Angela Brunson of the Cyber Crime Division, Hensel faces one felony count of contact with minor for sexual purposes.

A residential search warrant was previously served at Hensel's residence located in the 17500 block of Tramonto Drive in Pacific Palisades on Oct. 16.

Hensel is well known in the Los Angeles area as the former Chief Medical Correspondent for KNBC. He won 11 Emmys and two Golden Mike awards for his work in Los Angeles media.

He was being held on $5,000 bail.

If convicted as charged, Hensel faces a possible maximum sentence of 18 months in state prison.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles Regional ICAC Task Force at (562) 624-4027, from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

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