Former massage therapist suspended for 25 years, ordered to pay more than $100K - Penticton News - Castanet.net

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Photo: Contributed
Leonard Krekic

WARNING: This story contains details that may disturb some readers.

A former Penticton massage therapist has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 and had his license suspended for 25 years for sexual misconduct.

In a decision released on Dec. 21, the College of Massage Therapists of B.C. fined Leonard Krekic $10,000 and ordered him to pay more than $95,000 in costs.

He will not be able to reapply to practice until 2048.

The acts of sexual misconduct involve six women between 2009 and 2019, when Krekic was practicing in Surrey and Penticton.

Some of the allegations include touching a patient's vagina, inserting his finger into a patient's anus for a non-therapeutic or sexual purpose, pressing his groin into a patient's groin and other sexual acts.

“The panel determined that by engaging in this conduct, Mr. Krekic had not complied with the Code of Ethics in effect at the time, and that he committed professional misconduct,” the decision said.

“The panel stressed there is a strong need to express to Mr. Krekic and to other members of the profession that this type of conduct is unacceptable. Specifically, sexual touching of patients will not be tolerated, and where this occurs, registrants of CMTBC will be met with the most serious penalties available.”

The panel also stated a strong message must be sent to the profession in respect of Mr. Krekic’s other misconduct including engaging in a close personal relationship with a patient for personal and financial gain and practicing massage therapy without professional liability insurance.

“The public must have confidence in the integrity of the profession and in the college’s ability to regulate the profession in the public interest,” the decision said.

Krekic was found to have committed the acts of sexual misconduct following a hearing in August.

"This is one of the most serious cases to ever come before the Discipline Committee due to the nature and gravity of multiple instances of misconduct involving many different patients extending over a period of years,” the decision said.

“Sexual misconduct is a particularly serious form of misconduct because it involves a breach of trust and abuse of patients. The duration and frequency of Mr. Krekic’s conduct was serious, and its impact on the complainants was profound.”