A former Madison pediatrician — Dr. James Daniel Cartwright, 55, of Madison — charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse by force and one count of attempted sexual abuse by force can be released from Limestone County Jail if he can post the $100,000 bail.

As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, he remained jailed.

Limestone County Circuit Judge Jimmy Woodroof Jr. set bail and ordered Cartwright to surrender his passport following a nearly 1 1/2-hour hearing Tuesday morning in Athens. The charges stem from incidents that allegedly occurred in 2014 in Limestone County.

Fellow Asbury United Methodist Church member Karen Fite testified Tuesday that Cartwright, whom she and other defense witnesses referred to as “Danny,” moved into her and her husband’s home in Falkville in June 2014, immediately after the allegations were made.

“He shared that he was in a period of darkness and asked if he could stay in our home,” Fite said. She said Cartwright “did not share the nature of the charges.”

Fite said Cartwright painted their house and performed many other tasks for them until September when he found contract work in Birmingham providing physical exams to people who are homebound. She said he often worked Saturdays to earn income for his family but he occasionally returned to their home on weekends. During his stay with them, Fite said Cartwright spent his time “praying, listening to music, talking to his family on the telephone and working every day.”

Victim’s identity

Officials will not publicly confirm the identity of the alleged victim because the person is a minor. They also will not publicly state the alleged victim’s age or sex or how the doctor knows the person. Cartwright’s defense attorney, Patrick Tuten of Huntsville, stated in his request for a bail hearing the allegations have nothing to do with Cartwright’s professional life “in any way whatsoever.”

Cartwright’s wife of 26 years, Rosario, testified Tuesday her husband left their home in Madison-annexed Limestone County “the very next day” after the allegations came to light and he has not returned — a decision they made. She said she speaks to him frequently, including by telephone and text message.

The indictment — which could confirm the identify of the alleged victim, age, sex, relationship to the accused and what allegedly occurred — is sealed, Limestone Circuit Court officials said Tuesday. Both Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones and Chief Deputy District Attorney Jim Ayers Jr. have declined to provide or confirm information about the alleged victim. The DA’s office and Madison Police have made public only the charges on which Cartwright was indicted, when and where he was arrested, and that the alleged crime occurred in 2014.

Push for lower bail

After calling numerous character witnesses for Cartwright, Tuten pressed for a lower bail for his client, saying he is not a flight risk and that he had even traveled to and from the Caribbean island of Grenada to interview for a job since he was first accused. Tuten asked the court to impose bail of between $10,000 and $60,000, which is the recommended bail for the charges under the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, he said. (A judge may use these bail recommendations but is not required to do so.)

Testimony during the hearing revealed Cartwright had made mission trips to Ghana, Sudan and Honduras over the years through his church. Ayers, who represented the state at the bail hearing, requested the $100,000 bail, noting the doctor has made mission trips outside the country, that he has practiced medicine during those trips, that he has traveled to Grenada, that he has been able to earn income all over Alabama, and that he has friends willing to provide shelter and money for him to bail out.

In the end, Woodroof said he believed a $100,000 bond was “absolutely appropriate” and that due to Cartwright’s “worldly connections” he wanted his passport surrendered.

Doctor handcuffed

During the hearing, the doctor sat quietly next to his attorney handcuffed and dressed in a grey and white jail uniform, sweat socks and flip-flops. He smiled when witnesses, including his wife, church officials, his former nurse and various church members vouched for his character and assured the court he would not flee the country. Cartwright spoke only when Woodroof said he did not have to remain in jail once bail was posted as long as officials, not necessarily in Limestone, had his passport in hand. “Thank you, judge. Thank you, judge. Thank you,” Cartwright said.

Before his arrest Feb. 6, Cartwright had been staying in the Comfort Inn Suites hotel in Eufaula, not Phenix City as officials had initially said, and his passport and other personal items were in his room. His wife said she had driven to Eufaula to get her husband’s passport for Tuesday’s hearing but hotel officials had told her they could not let her enter his room to obtain the passport and a manager had said they had seized his passport to turn it over to local authorities. Under questioning by Tuten, Rosario said the only reason her husband had his passport with him was because he was living out of hotels and because he had traveled to Grenada and back since June 2014 because he had been invited to interview for a job teaching at the medical school.