"In practice for 40 years, part of Levin’s duties included performing court-ordered assessments of offenders.
Levin, 71, faces 21 charges of sexual assault on patients, most of whom were ordered into treatment by judges.
Levin was first charged with sexual assault March 23 — days after he was suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta — following a complaint by a 36-year-old man who had been a long-term patient.
When that news broke, police set up a tip line and several more of Levin’s patients contacted them saying they had also been victimized."
REPORTER KEVIN MARTIN: THE CALGARY SUN;
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BACKGROUND: Dr. Aubrey Levin, 71, was first arrested and charged March 23 after allegations that a 36-year-old patient was repeatedly sexually assaulted. Calgary Police said that following that charge, “the sex crimes unit was approached by numerous people alleging they, too, were Sexually assaulted by Levin during counselling sessions or court-ordered visits. These assaults allegedly occurred at Levin's Peter Lougheed (hospital) office or examination rooms. Dr. Levin has now been charged with 20 additional counts of sexual assault involving 20 other patients. Alberta Justice has been reviewing all criminal cases in which Dr. Levin offered testimony to ensure there were no miscarriages of justice. Spokesman David Dear said the work in 17 cases in which Dr. Levin was currently involved has been redone by other psychiatrists. The department is currently reviewing 21 other cases which had been finished. Mr. Dear said that Dr. Levin most commonly gave expert testimony to help the court make decisions on sentencing for people who had already been convicted.
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"Noted forensic psychiatrist Dr. Aubrey Levin will likely face a month-long preliminary inquiry into sex charges next spring, his lawyer said Tuesday," the Calgary Sun story by reporter Kevin Martin published on September 21, 2010 begins, under the heading, "Month-long pre-trial hearing for doctor accused of sex assault."
"Defence counsel Alain Hepner had hoped to set the date in provincial court, but instead had to schedule a pre-preliminary meeting," the story continues.
"“The practice and procedures require that we have a pre-preliminary meeting,” Hepner said, after failing to fast-track the setting of the hearing.
But he said he expects that will be done next week when Levin’s case is back in court to discuss what issues might arise in his preliminary inquiry.
“The trial coordinators office has reserved the entire month of June for the preliminary inquiry,” Hepner said.
He said his client will elect to stand trial in Court of Queen’s Bench, but he has yet to decide whether that will be before a jury, or judge sitting alone.
Hepner said a full month is needed because of the complexity of Levin’s case and the number of witnesses expected to be called by the Crown.
“There’s a number of critical witnesses who will be required to testify, each will be cross-examined,” he said.
“It’s pretty complicated.”
In practice for 40 years, part of Levin’s duties included performing court-ordered assessments of offenders.
Levin, 71, faces 21 charges of sexual assault on patients, most of whom were ordered into treatment by judges.
Levin was first charged with sexual assault March 23 — days after he was suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta — following a complaint by a 36-year-old man who had been a long-term patient.
When that news broke, police set up a tip line and several more of Levin’s patients contacted them saying they had also been victimized."
Levin remains on bail pending a resolution to the case."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/09/21/15431246.html
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-feature-cases-issues-and.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
