Former Chiropractor Avoids Jail Sexual Exploitation Victims Outraged As Man Gets Probation

While tears welled in the eyes of his outraged victims, a former Post Falls chiropractor who admitted sexually exploiting two patients was placed on probation Thursday and ordered to do 200 hours of community service.

Jeffrey Schwartz, 51, also must pay for counseling for the women and four others he exploited while treating them. Schwartz pleaded guilty in March to two misdemeanor counts of sexual exploitation by a medical care provider and acknowledged the four other victims as part of a plea agreement.

If Schwartz successfully completes two years of probation - and does not commit another crime during those two years - the charges would be dismissed.

Four of the six women who accused Schwartz of abusing them attended Thursday’s hearing. The women stormed out of the courtroom after watching Schwartz get what they called “a slap on the wrist” for forcing himself on them.

“He’s done it six times, dammit,” said victim Dorinda McAfee, who asked that her name be used. “Doesn’t that tell you he’ll do it again?”

The names of the other women have been withheld because of a newspaper policy not to identify the victims of sexual abuse.

The women - five patients and a former employee who range in age from 28 to 49 - made allegations of forced sex acts, improper touching and unwanted advances. None of the women accused Schwartz of using violence, instead alleging the chiropractor gained their trust and coerced them into sexual situations.

Defense attorney Charles Lempesis said Schwartz readily admits violating the misdemeanor sexual exploitation law and professional ethical standards. Schwartz says contact with the women was consensual, and he denies he forced them to do anything, Lempesis said.

“I’m sorry for my actions,” Schwartz quietly told 1st District Court Magistrate Paul McCabe. “I have lost my business, my home.”

Lempesis accused the media of unfairly vilifying Schwartz and questioned the credibility of the allegations some of the women made.

One of the women who claimed unwanted sexual contact on a dozen occasions didn’t report the allegations until police detectives sought her out, Lempesis said. Another, a 32-year-old former employee, repeatedly returned to work without complaint despite 17 alleged incidents of forced contact, he said.

Finally, a third woman continued to seek treatment from Schwartz after the chiropractor kissed her during an office visit. During a subsequent visit, Schwartz had sex with the 29-year-old woman while her daughter waited in the office lobby, according to police accounts.

Despite her allegation of rape and a waiting room full of people, the woman never screamed for help, Lempesis said.

“To some degree, aren’t these victims accountable for their own actions?” Lempesis said.

The comment drew loud sobs from the woman who made the rape allegation last spring. She told police Schwartz assaulted her after her 10-year-old daughter’s appointment with the chiropractor.

Embarrassed and afraid, she reluctantly reported the incident to police the next day. Her complaint prompted the other women to come forward.

“He raped me,” the woman wept outside the courtroom. “My kids were in the waiting room. Do you think I wanted my kids to hear me?”

Kootenai County prosecutors considered charging Schwartz with rape, said Joel Ryan, Post Falls prosecutor. They decided against pursuing the felony charge because they were unsure they could convince a jury that Schwartz forced the woman to submit to his advances, Ryan said.

The woman told police she was “stunned,” and never said a word or physically resisted.

She, “as far as she was concerned, was raped,” Ryan said. “I believe every word of it. It might not have risen to an explicit `No,’ but there was an unwillingness.”

Ryan asked McCabe on Thursday to send Schwartz to jail for six months for each of the exploitation charges.

Instead, McCabe followed the plea agreement between attorneys, which recommended probation, community service and counseling.

“I’m sad,” said McAfee, who said Schwartz took advantage of her during a visit to her home and at his office. “I’m really sad. I feel that we’ve worked so hard … We did get his license, though.”

“We’ve lost a lot more than that,” said another victim.

The Idaho Board of Chiropractic Physicians permanently revoked Schwartz’s license on Dec. 17. Schwartz has asked a judge to reverse the decision.

Losing his practice has left Schwartz destitute and near bankruptcy, Lempesis said. Schwartz has moved out of the area and is training to begin a different job.

Said Lempesis: “He has effectively received a professional death penalty.”