PITTSBURGH -- A judge rendered a not-guilty verdict Wednesday in the case of a Pittsburgh-area oral surgeon who was accused of sexually assaulting or fondling 19 female patients while they were anesthetized.

Dr. Robert Boyda Jr., 44, of Mount Lebanon, was found not guilty on all charges against him. He had been charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and lesser sex-related offenses.

Boyda was accused of sexually assaulting 19 female patients, who ranged in age from 13 to 58, in his office over a five-year period. His lawyers claimed the women were hallucinating due to anesthesia.

His family started clapping and cheering in the courtroom as the verdicts were announced by Judge Anthony Mariani.

Mariani said he believed the alleged victims to be sincere in their testimony, but he could not discount the expert testimony about the loss of memory that accompanied the drug with which the patients had been anesthetized.

"It was a very just finding, and it was just wonderful for the people of Pittsburgh and for my daughter and her husband," said Boyda's father-in-law Tom Connolly.

Boyda's family was cheering so loudly that the judge had to have them removed from the courtroom before he could finish.

For those alleged victims, the judge's decision brought on tears and screams of anguish.

"I'm shocked and saddened by the decision that he made," said one of the alleged victims, who asked to remain anonymous.

Boyda slipped out the back of the courtroom after the verdicts were announced. He declined to speak with Channel 11 about his not guilty verdict.

The District Attorney's office had no comment after the trial, either.

Deputy Allegheny County District Attorney Janet Necessary had said, in her closing arguments last month during the trial, that Boyda was after "sneaky thrills."

Allegheny County Judge Anthony Mariani reviewed weeks of evidence before rendering the verdicts.

During the trial, Mariani said he wouldn't be intimidated by an anonymous letter demanding a long prison term for Boyda.

The letter, mailed from Chicago, purports to be from 500 people who had attended dental school with Boyda at Northwestern University. It said that Boyda had a history of behavior that was similar to the charges he faces now.

The letter said if Boyda isn't convicted, its senders will be angry at the judge, not at Boyda.