Melvin L. Morse

For other uses, see Melvin Morse.

Melvin L. Morse
Born	(1953-12-11) December 11, 1953 Sandy Springs, Maryland
Nationality	American
Occupation	Pediatrician
Known for	"Near-death experience" interest

Melvin L. Morse is an American medical doctor with a special interest in near-death experiences which has led him to appear on many talk shows and television programs. Morse is the author of several books on the near-death experience, in which he offers conclusions based on interviewing children who came close to dying.

His 1991 book Closer to the Light was a bestseller. Oprah Winfrey interviewed Morse about this book in 1992. Larry King interviewed Morse in 2010. The PBS show Upon Reflection produced a half-hour episode devoted to Morse. He was the subject of an article in the Rolling Stone magazine in 2004 entitled "In search of the Dead Zone". He lives in Georgetown, Delaware.

In 2014 he was convicted of "waterboarding" his wife's 11-year-old daughter and sentenced to three years in prison.

Early life and education

Morse graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Natural Science. Morse earned a medical degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 1980. He interned in Pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco, and then completed a residency in Pediatrics at Seattle Children's Hospital. He subsequently completed a two-year fellowship in Hematology/Oncology and a one-year fellowship in Behavioral Pediatrics.

Career

He worked in California, Idaho and Washington state before moving to Delaware in 2007. His Washington state medical license expired in December 2007. After his arrest on child abuse charges in 2012, his Delaware medical license was suspended. Prior to his arrest, he was working as a pediatrician at an office in Milton, Delaware. Morse is a former associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle. He had practiced at Valley Medical Center in Renton, Washington. For a year, Morse worked as a pediatrician in Fort Hall, Idaho for the Indian Health Service.

In 2007, Morse and his wife Pauline created The Spiritual Scientific Research Foundation.

Personal life

Morse has been married twice, and has five children, including step-children.

Child abuse conviction

In July 2012, Morse was accused of "waterboarding" his eleven-year-old step-daughter. He was also accused by Delaware State Police of force-feeding the eleven-year-old girl until she threw up, among other child abuses.

Melvin Morse and his wife Pauline were arrested on child abuse charges in August 2012. Melvin Morse also faced charges that he had threatened the life of an elderly neighbor. Both Melvin Morse, and his wife Pauline Morse, were released on bail. Morse was brought to court on November 7, 2012, and entered not guilty pleas to the several charges he faced. Morse is not being allowed access to the children, who are in state custody. Pauline Morse is being allowed supervised access.

On December 1, 2012, Morse's lawyer argued that there was no need for an early trial, and that he needed more time to familiarize himself with the documents the prosecution had provided.

Morse's trial started on January 28, 2014 at the Sussex County Superior Court in Delaware. He was found guilty of the one felony and five misdemeanor charges and sentenced to three years in prison, while his wife plead guilty to misdemeanor charges.

Later in 2014, Eugene Braxton, in "America's Mystic solves Near Death Riddle", attributed Morse's waterboarding to his desperation to "win the near-death crown.