Previous
Sentencing Date To Be Fixed In Psychiatric Sexual Assault Case
Added: (Thu Sep 08 2005)
The Supreme Court of Penticton in British Columbia, Canada will fix the date for the sentencing hearing of psychiatrist Larry Anderson on September 26, 2005. Anderson was found guilty of three counts of indecent or sexual assault involving female patients over several years by a jury trial on July 23, 2005. (Court case # 31377)
According to evidence given during the trial, Dr. Anderson once put sexual instructions onto what a female patient thought was a prescription for anti-depressant drugs. This former female patient told Anderson’s B.C. Supreme Court trial that instead of a renewal of a prescription for her continued depression, Anderson handed her something completely unexpected. (The prescription read: Take one erection and put it in an appropriate space. Do what is needed to obtain satisfaction.)
Brian Beaumont, spokesperson for the British Columbia chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights said, “Psychiatric sexual assault is a very common occurrence over the world, but all too often the perpetrator is only slapped on the wrist by being given a fine or suspension from practice. Over 300 psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health professionals worldwide have been convicted of sex crimes in the last 27 years. Hundreds of others have lost their licenses.”
English psychiatrist William Kerr was criminally charged in 2000 with rape and indecent assault. He was found unfit to stand trial due to "illness" but, in a later jury hearing (not a trial), he was found guilty of having indecently assaulted a female patient 14 years earlier. His "sentence" was that he was placed on the sex offender registry.
Michael Haslam, a psychiatrist who practiced in the same hospital as Kerr, was arrested in September 2002 after a police investigation over complaints from several female patients. Haslam was ultimately convicted of rape and indecent assault and sentenced to seven years in prison. On appeal, the rape conviction was dropped and the sentence reduced to three years.
The complaint processes are thwarted, in part, by the belief that psychiatrists are above reproach. However, a woman is at greater risk of being raped while on a psychiatrist's couch than while jogging alone at night through a city park. Studies show that between 6% and 13% of psychiatrists and psychologists sexually abuse their patients and, according to one American Journal of Psychiatry study, 80% of psychiatrists reporting sexual contact did so with an average of six patients. With a conservative estimate of 10% of psychiatrists and psychologists sexually assaulting at least four patients each, there could be as many as 78,000 patients in the United States or 260,000 patients worldwide victimized by these professions.
Numerous studies report that psychiatrists, child psychiatrists and psychologists are significantly over-represented in sexual crimes. According to a 2001 study, "Sex Between Therapists and Clients," by Kenneth Pope, a former head of the ethics committee for the American Psychological Association, 1 out of 20 clients who had been sexually abused by their therapist was a minor, the average age being 7 for girls and 12 for boys. The youngest child was 3.
A 67-year-old Toronto psychiatrist, Lawrence Gotkindhas, was suspended from practice in 2005 for four months by the College of Physicians and Surgeons after touching and making sexual comments toward three female patients. With one of the other patients, Dr. Gotkind repeated requests to see her breasts after showing her an article linking the use of Paxil, an antidepressant, with an increased risk of breast cancer. One patient said she received remarks about her appearance during a number of sessions and on one occasion, he said she looked like a "piece of ass".
This month (September 2005), a committee will inquire into psychiatrist Dr. Golden’s conduct or capability or fitness to practice medicine in British Columbia with regard to the following charges pertaining to two complainants: (a) That from about July, 2001 to about May 2004, he engaged in a sexual relationship with a patient. (b) That he conducted himself inappropriately and indecently with a patient, including engaging in a personal and intimate relationship from April 2001 to February 2005.
Dr. d'Estrubé, a psychiatrist, admitted that he was guilty of infamous conduct by having engaged in a sexual relationship with an adult female patient between 1985 and 1996. His immediate resignation as a member of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia was accepted subject to Dr. d'Estrubé refraining from the practice of medicine in British Columbia or any other jurisdiction in the future, and subject to publication of his infamous conduct. In the circumstances of this case, Dr. d'Estrubé’s formal admission of infamous conduct, his immediate resignation, and the disgrace of publication of his conduct, reflect the gravity of the offence and provide closure to the complainant.
Following the issuance of disciplinary charges, Dr. Leech-Porter, a psychiatrist admitted that he was guilty of unprofessional conduct with respect to a patient in the period 1989 to 1991. The focus of the conduct in issue was hugging the patient on two occasions and kissing the patient on one occasion during the Christmas period, 1990. As a result of those two prior actions, Dr. Leech-Porter was suspended for one year from 1982 to 1983 and for three years from 1994 to 1997.
Following receipt of complaints and the approval of disciplinary charges by the BC College of Physicia
ns and Surgeons , Dr. Alexander Fleming Shearer, a psychiatrist, admitted that he was guilty of infamous conduct by engaging in a sexual relations with a female patient in the year 2000 and another female patient in the year 2001.
If you know anyone, including a child, who has been abused or harmed by a psychiatrist call The Citizens Commission on Human Rights at 1 800 670 2247. Complete confidentiality assured.