A Winnipeg chiropractor is facing allegations of voyeurism after city police seized hidden cameras and a recording of a woman’s bare breasts from inside his Portage Avenue office.
Search warrant documents obtained by the Free Press confirmed Dr. Robert Stitt is the focus of the investigation, which recovered a recording device and five cameras concealed in fake sprinkler heads at the Natural Wellness Chiropractic Centre.
“The victim(s) are believed to all be past or present clients… who were captured in various stages of undress by hidden cameras within his office,” the documents said.
The documents say police searched the office in January when the Manitoba Chiropractors Association alerted authorities about the cameras.
The regulatory body was involved in an investigation of its own at the time, after receiving a complaint from a female patient that Stitt, 66, had engaged in inappropriate touching, Winnipeg Police Service Const. Phillip Cole said in an affidavit.
Typically, a chiropractor’s licence is suspended for seven days while the association reviews the allegations, the document said.
Association board president Dr. Gerald Chartier, who investigated the claim, was told by Stitt that he had a video recording of his interaction, believing it would exonerate him of wrongdoing, the affidavit said.
Chartier went to Stitt’s office and, while searching video files for a recording of the complainant, he saw up to three women disrobing, the documents said.
The documents say there were no signs to alert patients they were being video recorded.
“One of the females was facing the camera with her breasts exposed. In these videos it appeared that the unknown females had no idea that they had been filmed,” Cole’s affidavit said.
Stitt told Chartier he did not ask patients for permission to record them, but later claimed he had obtained verbal permission, it said.
The affidavit noted Chartier saw that numerous cameras were set up in treatment rooms.
Stitt told Chartier the cameras were “for his own protection,” Chartier seized the hard drive and informed Stitt his licence would remain suspended. He then phoned police, it said.
It’s unknown how long Stitt was recording patients without their consent, the documents said.
Arthur Schafer, founding director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, said the allegations against Stitt are concerning.
“Patients often have to give intimate access to their bodies to the health-care professional. That makes privacy and confidentiality pretty close to ultimate values in health-care ethics,” he said.
“Any violation of that is extremely serious.”
Dana Forster, executive director of the chiropractors association, said in an email statement the regulatory body takes all complaints and obligation seriously, with public safety of paramount concern.
“As this is an open regulatory and police matter, we are unable to comment on any specific details at this time. We can confirm that as soon as the (association) became aware of the allegations, immediate steps to ensure public safety were taken,” Forster said.
It is unclear whether Stitt remains licensed to practise in Manitoba because the provincial Chiropractic Act requires regulatory matters to remain confidential.
Chiropractors are not included in Manitoba’s Regulated Health Professions Act, which requires public disclosure of disciplinary decisions against physicians, registered nurses and other health-care providers.
“Interestingly, and unjustifiably, the act regulating chiropractors gives the disciplinary powers to their professional association but does not impose on them the transparency and public accountability requirement that’s imposed on other health-care professionals. That’s an anomaly. It should never have existed in the first place and it should be rectified as rapidly as possible,” Schafer said.
“Chiropractors have the same intimate access to the bodies of their patients and to highly personal health care information… There’s no reason why their violations should be kept secret and, indeed, there are very good reasons why that should not be the case.”
Proactive disclosure is an “important deterrent against sleazy, unethical or incompetent practitioners” and critical for building public trust, he said.
In an interview Wednesday, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara described the investigation into Stitt as “devastating news.”
“It’s trust-shattering for women and for patients to find out a health care provider who they implicitly trust when they go to access this care (may have) violated that trust,” Asagwara said.
Work is underway to expand the law to include chiropractors and other health-care providers. Meantime, Asagwara is exploring ways to improve disclosure and transparency.
“We are looking at what steps we can take right away,” the minister said. “Whether it’s through legislation, regulatory changes, policy — we are exploring all levers.”
City police declined to comment on the investigation. A review of court records shows Stitt has not been charged with a criminal offence.
Stitt’s profile on LinkedIn, a social media platform used for professional networking, indicates he is open to work as a chiropractor, chiropractor assistant or clinic manager in either Winnipeg or Singapore.
It describes him as a “spinal correction expert” with “more than 25 years of experience in helping people with many different types of body pains and health conditions.”
Stitt did not respond to requests for comment.
—With files from Erik Pindera
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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