Nearly a decade before a married New York doctor was accused of having an 18-month affair with a stripper, he had already ended his first marriage for a young employee that he insisted was his ‘true love,’ two sources told the Daily Mail.

Dr Keith Hoerning was a 42-year-old married father of three when he began an affair with Nicole Elliot in 2017, then a 24-year-old medical assistant at his Long Island practice.

Hoerning was her older, successful employer and showered Nicole with attention and affirmation, according to a source familiar with the relationship. She deeply admired him and became intensely invested in him, the source said.

When the affair came to light that summer, Hoerning allegedly portrayed it to loved ones as an extraordinary exception to his otherwise impenetrable moral code, insisting he was not ‘the kind of guy who cheats’ but was convinced Nicole was the woman he was meant to be with.

Hoerning left his first wife, Michele Carrieri, despite pleas from members of both families to reconsider. The split devastated Carrieri, caused ‘enormous damage’ and ruptured ties between two families that had been extremely close, according to the source.

Attempts to reach Michele Carrieri were unsuccessful. 

A second source corroborated details of the collapse of Hoerning’s first marriage. 

Hoerning later married Nicole and now has two young children with her. But almost nine years later, Nicole is now on the receiving end of an extramarital betrayal.

Dr. Keith Hoerning was a 42-year-old married father of three when he began an affair with Nicole Elliot (right) in 2017. She was employee at his practice

Hoerning left his first wife, Michele Carrieri (above), for Nicole despite pleas from members of both families to reconsider

In a lawsuit filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court last month, Rosana Kissoon, 39, alleged that she and Hoerning carried on an 18-month affair after meeting at the Long Island strip club where she worked, with the doctor allegedly professing his love and promising they would find a way to build a life together.

Kissoon, whose lawsuit seeks damages that could exceed $1 million over claims including emotional harm, alleges in the complaint that after she called Nicole to disclose the affair, Hoerning went to police, tried to have her arrested and sought a restraining order while accusing her of threatening his family.

Hoerning has denied wrongdoing. In a court filing earlier this week, he asked the judge to dismiss Kissoon’s lawsuit, claiming it lacks legal merit. 

The doctor also accused Kissoon of blackmail and described his relationship with her in a sworn statement as ‘the worst mistake’ of his life. 

Filed with the motion were screenshots of alleged texts between Hoerning and Kissoon that he claims showed Kissoon demanding money in exchange for keeping their relationship a secret from Nicole. 

In one, Kissoon allegedly asked Hoerning: ‘Are u willing to pay me to let this go and leave u alone?’

For one source who witnessed the collapse of Hoerning’s first marriage, the news of his affair with Kissoon was shocking – but not entirely surprising.

‘The affair itself makes the history feel painfully circular,’ the source told the Daily Mail.

‘Nicole was once the young employee involved with a married man in a relationship that was presented to her as exceptional and uniquely significant. She is now the wife learning that Keith had another sustained intimate relationship with someone else.’

Rosana Kissoon, 39, alleged in a lawsuit that she and Hoerning carried on an 18-month affair after meeting at the Long Island strip club where she worked

Hoerning and Nicole tied the knot almost immediately after his divorce was finalized, a source told the Daily Mail

The apparent length and seriousness of the doctor’s relationship with Kissoon is what proved most striking, the source added.

‘Given everything that happened the first time, I would have thought Keith would be exceptionally protective of his second marriage, his family, his reputation and his medical career,’ the source said.

‘Instead, he seems to have exposed all of those things again – and potentially to even greater consequences this time.’

Before Nicole first entered the picture, Hoerning’s first marriage had endured for years, though it was not without its problems, the source said. 

Michele was said to have appeared to be the leader of the household and Hoerning had complained privately that he felt over-criticized, undervalued and unhappy.

Still, there was little outward indication the marriage was about to collapse, the source said. The couple had built a comfortable family life, remained close with both extended families and often vacationed together.

Hoerning is a successful doctor. Sources described him as charming and persuasive  

Filed alongside Hoerning’s motion to dismiss Kissoon’s case were screenshots of alleged texts that Hoerning claims capture Kissoon’s threats escalating as their affair fell apart

That began to change in early 2017.

Hoerning was then working long hours at Doctors Care, his family medicine practice, where Nicole was employed as a medical assistant.

Suspicions grew among those close to him that some of his late nights away from his family were not spent solely at work. Hoerning’s interest in Nicole was also becoming increasingly apparent to people inside the practice, a source said.

The source described Hoerning as charismatic, persuasive and capable of becoming intensely focused once he decided what he wanted.

With Nicole, that intensity was particularly pronounced.

‘Keith was an older, married, successful physician and her employer. Nicole was very young, adored and admired him enormously, and seemed deeply affected by his attention,’ the source said.

‘He was intensely attentive, telling her that she was his true love and what they had was extraordinary… He gave her every reason to believe him, and I believe he was sincere.’

Attempts to reach Michele Carrieri (right) were unsuccessful. A source said her divorce from Hoerning caused catastrophic fallout 

By the summer of 2017, Hoerning told Michele and members of both families that he was leaving his marriage to pursue a future with Nicole, triggering what one source remembered as an extraordinarily painful period for everyone around them, including his three children, then aged 13 and 11.

Hoerning later told the source that ‘too much had happened’ for his marriage to Michele to continue, while explaining his decision in starkly personal terms: he had one life to live and believed Nicole was the person he was actually meant to spend it with.

His own family initially seemed to struggle to accept Nicole and the speed with which he was dismantling one life and constructing another, but he and Nicole married almost immediately after his divorce from Michele was finalized, a source said.

Nearly a decade later, the family Hoerning rebuilt with Nicole has been thrust into crisis – this time in full public view.

One source said their overriding reaction to the latest scandal was sadness, particularly for Hoerning’s children and wider family.

Kissoon’s lawsuit seeks damages that could exceed $1 million over claims including emotional harm; an attorney for Hoerning denied the claims in their entirety, accusing her of lying

His three children with Michele, who lived through the breakdown of their parents’ marriage as youngsters, are now adults. His two children with Nicole are infants.

‘The first divorce was already enormously disruptive,’ the source said. ‘Eventually Nicole became part of the family and Keith built an entirely new family life with her, so seeing that stability threatened too is very sad to me.’

‘I wish Keith had been more protective of his family and more conscious of the example his choices set for his children.’

The source also expressed sympathy for Nicole, despite acknowledging her role in Hoerning’s first affair, saying she had genuinely believed in the future he was promising her.

But they cautioned against reducing anyone involved to a caricature.

‘People are complex. Nobody in this story is entirely good or entirely bad,’ the source said.

‘Each of us lives in glass houses.’

When contacted for comment, Barket, Hoerning’s attorney, did not comment on the claims made by the sources quoted in this report but called writing about his client’s personal life 10 years ago ‘ridiculous and offensive.’