REGINA – A former patient of Dr. Edward Poon told a Regina courtroom Wednesday she knew there could be no medical reason for the things Poon was doing during a pelvic examination in February 2008, but she said she didn’t have the courage to confront him and tell him to stop.
"Who questions their doctor?" she said. "Who says, ‘Excuse me, I think you’re doing something wrong?’… He was the educated man. He was the doctor. He was the man with the experience."
The woman, now 26, is the third former patient to testify at Poon’s trial on six counts of sexual assault. Her name cannot be published because of a court-ordered publication ban.
The woman said Poon was her family doctor when she went to see him at the Golden Mile walk-in clinic in 2008, and asked him to refer her to a gynecologist.
She said she told Poon she had been having extreme pain during intercourse, and wanted to see a gynecologist to ensure she didn’t have an anatomical problem, and to inquire about equipment which had successfully treated a friend of hers with a similar issue.
But the woman testified Poon told her that treatment wouldn’t work.
"(He said), ‘No, no, those are silly… You don’t need those. Dr. Poon will help you. I’ve helped lots of girls with that same problem’," she said.
She said Poon asked if she had time for a physical examination and, when she said she did, he told her to get undressed and put on a paper gown.
She said Poon conducted a breast exam, then asked her to lay down with the bottoms of her feet touching. She said he inserted one of his fingers into her vagina and began "rubbing, rubbing, stroking, rubbing" continuously, "like he was pleasing me."
The woman said she was shocked and confused, and tried to think of an explanation for what Poon was doing.
"I couldn’t think of a medical reason why your doctor would need to rub your clitoris constantly for the amount of time that he did," she told court.
The woman said she was shaking and nervous, and that Poon held one of her hands in his while he continued to touch her vagina with his other hand.
She said the entire appointment lasted an hour, and she estimated the touching continued for a minimum of 30 minutes, possibly longer.
The woman described feeling embarrassed and ashamed as she walked out into the crowded waiting room, and recalled thinking, "I’ll never forget that. My life will never be the same."
"I felt like my body was not my own …," she said. "He just took it for whatever reason he wanted to. Took advantage of his position of authority. Took advantage of my body."
She said she didn’t tell anyone what had occurred at first, and didn’t want to have to deal with what happened publicly or go to court.
"I felt I would rather just carry this horrible memory with me my entire life rather than deal with it …," she said. "It was a very difficult process."
She said she only went to police months later, after her mother told her Poon had been charged with sexual assault.
"I told her, ‘Yeah. That happened to me, too’," she said.
The woman’s cross-examination is expected to continue at Regina Court of Queen’s Bench Thursday morning. There are six more Crown witnesses slated to testify during the trial, which is being heard by Justice Ted Malone with a jury.
Poon, 60, has had a family medical practice in Regina since 1983.
jpruden@leaderpost.canwest.com
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