This article contains information about of a criminal sexual assault case which 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 is appealing his sexual assault conviction from earlier this year, with the appeal set to be heard in early June.
Murray Kievit was sentenced in B.C. Provincial Court to a nine-month conditional sentence to be followed by three years of probation on Jan. 14.
On Feb. 2, shortly after Justice David Ruse convicted Kievit of a single count of sexual assault, Kievit filed an appeal of the conviction and sentence.
Kievit’s appeal is now scheduled to be heard on Monday, June 1 in B.C. Supreme Court at the Vernon Law Courts.
The appeal is pending, and the legal arguments Kievit’s defence will put forward aren’t yet known.
The previous trial hinged on whether Kievit’s removal of the complainant’s underwear and touching of her pubic area was within the bounds of legitimate chiropractic practice. Ruse ultimately decided it wasn’t.
At the original sentencing, Crown prosecutor Catherine Rezansoff had called for Kievit to spend five months in jail for the sexual assault, which allegedly took place during a 2021 chiropractic treatment section against the complainant, whose name is protected by a publication ban. Justice Ruse had sided with the defence in imposing house arrest followed by a curfew instead of jail time.
The appeal could result in another trial, and the complainant would have to testify again.
In the late 1990s, Kievit was charged with sexually assaulting six of his patients, but he was acquitted on all charges in 2000 following a trial. However, the B.C. College of Chiropractors came down on him with a $4,000 fine and ordered him to pay $15,000 in costs.