Vancouver, British Columbia -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/28/2005 -- The Supreme Court of Penticton in British Columbia, Canada has adjourned the date for the sentencing hearing of psychiatrist Larry Anderson to January 20, 2006. 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 (CCHR), a psychiatric watchdog group 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 criminally convicted of sex crimes in the last 27 years according to various court documents and media reports gathered worldwide by chapters of CCHR. Hundreds of others have lost their licenses in that same time period. These figures do not take into account women who have been reluctant to file charges or who were unwilling or unable to come forward”, Beaumont concluded.
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.
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.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights was established by the Church of Scientology to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.
If you know anyone, including a child, who has been abused or harmed by a psychiatrist, please call The Citizens Commission on Human Rights at 1 800 670 2247. Complete confidentiality is assured.