REGINA — A judge has sentenced a Regina chiropractor to 15 months in the community for sexually assaulting a patient.
REGINA — A judge has sentenced a Regina chiropractor to 15 monthsin the community for sexually assaulting a patient.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Janet McMurtry says a prison sentence would have made it difficult for Ruben Manz to support his family.
“Incarceration, in my view, would overemphasize the gravity of the offence,” McMurtry said Monday.
Manz was accused of touching or pulling the breasts of seven female patients while stretching their necks between 2010 and 2020.
A jury found him guilty on one count of sexual assault, not guilty on five other counts and a mistrial was determined on the remaining count.
The Crown argued Manz sexually touched the women for no legitimate medical purpose, betraying their trust in him as a medical caregiver.
Manz testified that he got his patients to fill out forms and asked for their consent before working on sensitive areas of the body, including the chest and buttocks.
If patients told him they were uncomfortable, he said, he stopped.
The judge said Manz must follow a curfew and have no contact with the victim, as well as keep the peace and be on good behaviour.
Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press