REDWOOD CITY -- A once-respected Bay Area child psychiatrist faked dementia to avoid being prosecuted on charges he molested five boys in his care, a prosecutor said Friday in court.

William Ayres, 80, of San Mateo used his psychiatric knowledge to fool doctors into thinking his mind was so far gone to Alzheimer's related-dementia that he wasn't able to stand retrial on nine felony counts of abusing his patients, Deputy District Attorney Melissa McKowan said at Ayres' bail hearing.

The stunning revelation in the nearly seven-year legal saga comes courtesy of a report from Napa State Hospital, where Ayres had been held since the fall. The July 24 document from state psychologist John McIlnay, however, is under seal by order of San Mateo County Superior Court John Grandsaert.

"I am skeptical of anything the doctor has done up to this point," McKowan said outside court. "Based on the report, we have reason to believe this whole thing was a hoax and we have been duped."

McKowan didn't oppose the judge's order to keep the document sealed, saying that a near emergency need would have been required to successfully argue for the report's public release.

Ayres looked pale, bony and grey during the hearing, which he attended shackled and in orange jail clothes. He sat, without reaction, in a wheelchair at the defense table. Grandsaert put off a decision on bail to Wednesday.

When asked outside the court about the alleged ruse,

The defense attorney said he will contest the hospital psychiatrist's conclusions. Grandsaert set an Oct. 1 date for a full hearing on the report that is to include testimony from psychiatrists, nurses and even custodial staff from Napa hospital.

"The burden of proof is on the defense" to show Ayres is not competent, said McDougall.

For Ayres' accusers and their families, the news means the man they thought had escaped justice could still end up in prison. But the road ahead is fraught with opportunities for the case to end without a conviction, said Rinaldo Brutoco, whose son took the stand against Ayres. A conviction would help, but won't repair the damage.

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