'I was traumatized': complainant testifies on 3rd day of former Regina doctor's sexual assault trial
CBC
WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing
The trial for a former doctor charged with seven counts of sexual assault entered its third day on Wednesday at Queen's Bench in Regina.
The charges against former gastroenterologist Sylvestre Ukabam, 76, stem from offences that allegedly occurred between December 2010 and April 2017. A publication ban prohibits any of the five complainants from being named.
Ukabam has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges.
The third complainant was a 47-year-old woman from Regina and a long-time patient of Ukabam's. She suffers from Crohn's and colitis, among other medical issues. She said that on April 24, 2017, Ukabam sexually assaulted her at his downtown Regina clinic.
The witness said that up until that incident, she had no reason not to trust the former doctor.
On April 24, 2017, the complainant went to Ukabam's office for a follow-up appointment concerning some lab results. She said she had no medical issues that day or complaints.
Even so, she said Ukabam told her to go to the exam room and remove her clothes and put on a gown. She left on her bra and underwear and put on the gown.
"I just trusted in my doctor," she said.
She said Ukabam then told her she needed to take off her bra and underwear and tie the gown in the front, rather than the back. She said he did not tell her why. She did so, but said the gown's string tore. She said she held the gown together with her hands, but felt exposed because it was a small gown.
The complainant said she was not offered a sheet, nor did she ask for one.
Ukabam then pressed his fingers and hands on her abdomen, and stopped above her pubic bone, according to the witness. She said he didn't ask to do so, nor did he tell her what he was doing. She said he then used a stethoscope to listen to her chest after asking her to take off the gown. He then pushed on her back while she was exposed, she said.
"He asked me if I would like him to check down there. Right away I said, 'No, no I'm good.'"
The complainant said Ukabam then grabbed a chair and propped it against the door handle to the exam room.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.