WARNING: This article contains details about a criminal sexual assault trial and may be disturbing to some readers. If you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual violence, contact Archway Society for Domestic Peace at 250-542-1122. All programs are easily accessible, free of charge and confidential.

A former Vernon chiropractor found guilty of sexual assault stemming from a 2021 treatment session will hear his sentence on Monday, with the Crown calling for five months of jail time and his defence lawyer pushing for house arrest.

Murray Kievit, 61, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault on July 9, at which time he was found not guilty of a second instance of sexual assault. Both counts had come from the same complainant in relation to two separate chiropractor treatment sessions that were two days apart in Vernon in December 2021.

At a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 18, Justice David Ruse heard submissions from Crown prosecutor Catherine Rezansoff and defence lawyer Michael Klein, and ultimately deferred his sentencing decision to Nov. 24 to allow time for him to weigh all that had been presented to him.

The victim, whose name is protected by a publication ban, offered an emotional and pointed impact statement to the court.

“I’ve been in this courtroom throughout the whole trial, never missing a day, because I’ve been desperately hoping that it might help me get back what was violated in me during my assaults — stripped of my dignity, of my safety, and of my humanity. The day Murray Kievit sexually assaulted me, he left me feeling degraded and hollow,” the victim said, fighting back tears.

“There is nothing I can ever do to change that. The pain of such a violation of my body is something I will grieve for the rest of my life. I stand here in front of you because you can’t lose more than that.”

Kievit was previously found by Justice Ruse to have touched the victim’s pelvic area in a way that went beyond a professional capacity. He found that during a chiropractic treatment session, Kievit had pulled the victim’s pants and underwear down below the top of her pelvic bone and sexually assaulted her by touching her vaginal area.

The preceding trial had centred on the issue of consent. During that trial, Rezansoff had asserted that based on his previous testimony, Kievit had been explaining what he was doing to the complainant as he was doing it, and that in order to have consent, he needed to explain what he would do before doing it, as is outlined in a B.C. chiropractor’s handbook.

On Tuesday the Crown argued that a five-month jail sentence followed by three years of probation is an appropriate measure to fulfill the sentencing principle of deterrence. Rezansoff supported this suggested sentence by listing Kieivit’s abuse of his position of trust and authority and the significant impact on the victim as aggravating factors, while arguing the mitigating factors were “minimal.” She noted she had no knowledge of Kievit’s remorse as he hadn’t offered an apology to the victim.

Rezansoff cited a number of other cases in which a sexual assault conviction in a health care context led to a jail sentence.

Klein said neither he nor his client take issue with the suggested three year probation period, the primary condition of which would be a ban on providing health care to an individual in any capacity. Klein said Kievit has sold his chiropractic practice and has been “completely out of the business” for the past two years.

Klein asserted that Kievit should not spend time behind bars.

“At worst he should receive a conditional sentence,” he said.

Klein went through the Crown’s case law and highlighted details in those cases he believes are more incriminating than the details before this court.

“The cases that the Crown relies upon, I would submit, have far more insidious facts,” Klein said by way of arguing that the jail sentences handed down in those cases aren’t a good measuring stick for how Kievit ought to be sentenced.

Some of those cases included “significant sexual overtures which aren’t present in Kievit’s case,” Klein argued.

Rezansoff said the touching was sexualized, and serious.

“It was very inappropriate, unexpected, and clearly violated her sexual integrity in a way that’s very true and real for her,” the Crown prosecutor said.

She noted that courts have been giving stricter sentences for sexual assault since about 2020. Justice Ruse agreed with that and said he would treat the cited cases from well before that year “somewhat cautiously.”

The Crown also argued that Kievit should be placed on the national sex offender registry, which Klein argued was unnecessary.

Justice Ruse will make his sentencing decision at the Vernon Law Courts on Monday morning, Nov. 24.