RCMP extended thanks Friday to more than 40 women who came forward with information during an investigation of sexual assault by a Cowichan physiotherapist.
On April 17, Campbell Ernest Crichton, 55, was handed a conditional sentence of two years less a day in B.C. Supreme Court in Duncan after his conviction on five counts of sexual assault.
His conditions confine Crichton to his Mill Bay home from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. during the first year, and from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. during the second year.
RCMP said Crichton was a physiotherapist treating the complainants at Cowichan Physiotherapy from 1993 to 2010 when the offences occurred.
½“North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP would like to thank the over 40 women who brought their victimization stories forward,” police said a statement.
“We know it was difficult for them.”
RCMP Cpl. Krista Hobday said the original investigation began with just one complaint.
But the investigator noticed others had made similar reports to police, which had not led to charges. So the officer began tracking down the women who had made those earlier reports.
By the time the investigator had finished, she had compiled enough information to charge Crichton with five counts in March 2011.
Hobday said information from all 40 women didn’t necessarily directly result in charges laid. But they all assisted with the credibility of the Crown’s case.
“It was just like building up a house,” Hobday said. “You add one more brick until you have to recognize, it’s a house.”
