Warning: This article may be triggering for some readers. Please read at your own discretion.
A Saskatchewan doctor who was found guilty of unprofessional conduct following a sexual assault accusation in Regina, has now been ordered to pay back nearly $100,000 for costs associated with the investigation and penalty hearing.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan council made the decision at its Sept. 25 and 26 meeting, ordering Jesse Leontowicz to pay the total amount of $96,577.10.
The decision to indefinitely suspend Leontowicz’s licence was made on June 20 following a penalty hearing in May.
The reasons behind the decision are expected at a later date.
A three-member disciplinary panel found Leontowicz guilty of “unbecoming, improper, unprofessional, or discreditable conduct” contrary to Saskatchewan’s medical act.
Leontowicz, who was a 27-year-old fourth-year medical student at the time of the incident, was accused of forcibly engaging in a number of sexual acts with an unwilling participant more than two years ago.
“While Dr. Leontowicz was not criminally charged, his conduct in the context of this proceeding meets the definition of sexual assault,” the panel decision states.
“A core value of the medical profession is to do no harm. Further, the essence of the work of the profession is to help and heal other human beings. Sexual assault is the antithesis of this creed and unacceptable to the profession.”
The college said evidence showed Leontowicz met a 26-year-old woman on Tinder and went on a date with her on Jan. 22, 2018. The woman is unnamed in the college’s document.
The review said Leontowicz and the woman went back to his apartment, took off their clothes and kissed. Leontowicz put a condom on and they engaged in consensual intercourse.
At some point during intercourse, Leontowicz allegedly removed his condom. The woman he was having intercourse with told him to put a condom back on, but she claims he refused.
Leontowicz is then accused of holding her down, hitting her repeatedly causing significant bruising and spitting on her.
In her witness statement, the woman said she agreed to have rough sex, but not without a condom and not “beaten to the point of seeing stars.”
The alleged victim described herself as “afraid, shocked, alarmed and not knowing what was happening.”
Once they were finished engaging in intercourse, the woman said Leontowicz told her, “I hope I didn’t scare you. I’ve scared girls before,” while smiling.
The woman said she went to Pasqua Hospital’s emergency department in Regina to get a rape test kit on Jan. 24, 2018, before reporting the incident to Regina police two days later.
“Ultimately, she was advised by the Regina Police Service lead investigator that no charges would be laid,” according to the college’s document.
Leontowicz has not been criminally charged, the document said, though the discipline panel concluded his conduct met the definition of sexual assault.
In his defence, stated in the college’s document, Leontowicz said he and the woman engaged in sexual intercourse four times, three times with a condom and one without. He said everything was consensual.
The woman denied having “multiple rounds” of intercourse with Leontowicz.
In its decision, the college said although the alleged incident didn’t happen at work, it felt suspending Leontowicz’s licence was the best course of action.
Leontowicz will be reprimanded for his alleged actions in person at a September college council meeting.
Global News reached out to Leontowicz for comment on multiple occasions but has yet to hear back.
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