REDWOOD CITY, Calif. --   A prominent child psychiatrist charged in San Mateo County
Superior Court with molesting several young patients insisted Thursday the
physical exams he performed on patients that led to the molestation
accusations were medically appropriate.

William Ayres, 77, testified for the second day Thursday that though
he does not recall the majority of physical examinations he conducted, as
some occurred more than two decades ago, he was sure he did not
inappropriately touch his patients.

"I've never, ever done anything like that," Ayres said, referring
to claims he groped the genitals of male patients under 14 years old.

Prosecutor Melissa McKowan, however, has said the physical
examinations were "not legitimate."

During opening statements, she told the jury that the doctor would
"touch, fondle, molest and masturbate the boys' penises and testicles."

Ayres, who was president of the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry from 1993 to 1995, has been charged with 10 counts of
lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 14 for allegedly molesting six
boys between ages 9 and 13 from 1988 to 1996.

He was arrested in April 2007 and has been free on $750,000 cash
bail.

One of the alleged victims who testified against Ayres in the
trial said that when he told the doctor he was wetting his bed, Ayres
instructed the boy to urinate into a cup so Ayres could see if there was
anything physically wrong with him.

Ayres said Thursday he did not hold the boy's penis while the boy was
urinating, which the alleged victim claimed.

Ayres testified that he believed it was appropriate to examine the
boy's penis while the boy was urinating to determine if there were any
physical ailments with the genitals.

"There are various problems that can occur with the stream of the
penis," Ayres said, citing an infection or birth defect as possibilities.

"I don't think that was inappropriate," Ayres said of watching the
boy urinate. "I wouldn't touch or hold the penis because it would interfere
with the stream."

Under cross-examination, Ayres admitted he did not refer the boy
to a urologist.

Ayres said, though, that it shouldn't be assumed everything the
alleged victims said is accurate.

"I think you assume everything the children say is true," he said.
"You can't believe everything children say."

When asked why he didn't tell the patients' parents about the
physical exams, which the parents claim, Ayres said he may not have thought
it was necessary to depict every single action he took with the patients. 

He said he may have listed some of the activities he was going to
do with the patients when first meeting the parents, such as reading or math,
but that he didn't think he should emphasize that he may conduct a physical
exam in order to protect the parents.

 "You wouldn't want to highlight that because the parents get
stressed," he said.

Six witnesses have testified in the trial, as well as some of
their parents, and four other men whose claims fall outside the statute of
limitations have also addressed the court, but it is up to the jurors whether
their testimony can be used as evidence.

Ayres earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin
in 1956. He moved to the Bay Area with his wife in 1963.

Weinberg said during opening statements that the alleged victims'
memory of events should be questioned because of the amount of time between
when the alleged crimes took place and when they came forward with their
claims -- years after the alleged molestations took place.

McKowan, however, has said the witnesses' accounts are accurate
and credible.

Jurors will hear closing arguments Monday.