A Vernon, B.C.-area chiropractor has been charged with two counts of sexual assault.
The B.C. Prosecution Service confirmed Wednesday that Dr. Murray Stephen Kievit is charged with two counts of sexual assault against a single complainant following incidents alleged to have occurred on Dec. 7 and 9, 2021, in Vernon.
The owner of Vernon’s White House Wellness Centre will be in court March 10 for a pre-trial conference.
It’s unclear whether the complaint was made by a patient but Dr. Kevit has run afoul of the organization that oversees his profession in the past.
According to the College of Chiropractors of B.C., in November of 2009, he was asked to write an apology letter to a former patient and pay $4,900 for failing to properly advise a patient and obtain her consent prior to placing his hands in the front of her pants and examining and treating in the area of the pubic bone.
“His use of a teddy bear during treatment was without clinical benefit, inappropriate to any intended clinical purpose, and demonstrated a lack of gender sensitivity,” read a decision from the board at that time.
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Dr. Kievit consented to an order from the Inquiry Committee that imposed a reprimand, suspended him for three months, and required that he have a chaperone present for a two-year period for all assessment, examination or treatment of female patients involving sexually sensitive areas.
In an order from the college in September 2000 he faced a similar issue.
“As part of a consent resolution, Dr. Kievit admitted to failing to meet the standard of care pertaining to communication, note-taking, treatment techniques and respect for patient privacy, all in relation to the provision of treatment in the patient’s pubic area that resulted in unintentional violations of their sexual integrity,” reads a college decision from that time.
The British Columbia College of Chiropractors reprimanded Dr. Kievit and ordered him to discontinue use of a pubic area treatment until such time as he had provided a letter confirming his qualification to use it, to communicate his treatment plan fully to all female patients so there could be no misunderstanding as to “the nature and purpose of the treatment, to practice in such a way as to maximize patient privacy and minimize accidental or inadvertent contact with patient’s breasts or genitals.”
Again, he wrote an apology letter and paid a fine.
Murray graduated from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 1992 and according to the website for his practice, he’s well-versed in manual manipulation, soft tissue techniques, cranial therapy, and is also experienced with instrument-assisted techniques.
He also is trained in treating concussion injuries and sports injuries.
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