Regina chiropractor gets 15-month community sentence for sex assault

WATCH: Ruben Manz, a Regina chiropractor found guilty of sexual assault, was given a 15 month conditional sentence. Jacob Carr reports.

A judge has sentenced a Regina chiropractor to 15 months in 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.

She also says imprisonment would “overemphasize” the gravity of the offence.

Manz declined to comment publicly but his defense lawyer Blaine Beaven spoke for him.

“I think he’s feeling relieved that he’s going home with his family tonight. He knows that there is going to be a lot of work for him to do on the CSO going forward. And I think he’s happy he won’t be going to jail tonight,” Beaven said.

Manz was accused of touching or pulling the breasts of seven female patients over 10 years.

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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.

Due to the serious nature of the offense, Crown prosecutors in the case were pushing for 12 months of incarceration for Manz, citing factors such as abuse of trust and the breach of the doctor-patient relationship.

“Given the fact that there were certain aggravating circumstances, like his position of trust, and the courts certainly found that there was a breach of trust,” said Crown Counsel’s Carmody Hallamore. “However, they did come down on the side of addressing those concerns could be served by a sentence in the community.”

On Monday, the Crown asked the court for Manz to be banned from his place of work, the Argyle Natural Health Centre, during the sentence, and called for a 24/7 house arrest for Manz during the first 12 months of the sentence.

Both were rejected by Justice McMurtry, who called the submission Draconian.

The judge says Manz is to follow a curfew and have no contact with the victim, as well as keep the peace and be on good behaviour.

He will also be required to abide by a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, complete 200 hours of community service within 15 months, and report to a supervisor as advised.

McMurtry declined to grant an exemption to a prohibition of firearms for Manz, who argued that he uses them to feed his family. He now faces a 10-year mandatory firearms prohibition.

“In this province we know that a conditional order sentence is a jail sentence,” said King’s Counsel Kathy Hodgson-Smith. “It is very demanding and very restrictive, so he has by no means been given a light sentence. But certainly, one that we feel appropriate.”

Manz will not be placed on the sex offender registry, which was sought by the Crown. In the view of the judge, a SOIRA (Sex Offender Information Registration Act) order would provide no additional benefit to the public.