Republished April 15, 2016 - 12:53 PM
Original Publication Date April 15, 2016 - 10:50 AM
CALGARY - Police have charged a therapist with sexual assaulting one of his clients who had visited him for marriage counselling.
Staff Sgt. Steve Lorne says a woman in her 30s and her husband began seeing the therapist in December 2012. The husband quit after four months, but the wife kept seeing the therapist on her own.
The alleged assaults began in December 2013.
"It's alleged the therapist began to ask inappropriate, sexual questions and then began to sexually assault the victim," Lorne said Friday. "The victim continued with her counselling sessions until April of 2014."
Johannes Kilian, who is 76 and a registered social worker therapist, was arrested at his downtown Calgary office on Tuesday and charged with one count of sexual assault.
Lorne said it's not unusual in these types of cases for "grooming" to take place between counsellor and patient.
"A grooming aspect is a relationship and it can be kind of a warped relationship," Lorne said. "It's taken a while for her to come forward ... It's quite courageous for her to do this."
Police say the woman remains married to her husband.
Kilian, who immigrated to Canada from South Africa 11 years ago, is scheduled to appear in court again May 11.
Lorne said police are looking for any other potential victims.
"He's not known to police and he is 76 years old. He's been a doctor for quite a while," said Lorne. "He's been in Canada 11 years, so we are reaching out to the public."
A LinkedIn profile matching Kilian's identity says he has done work in Nunavut and worked for a year as a clinician for the Canadian Forces in Edmonton in 2011. He attended the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa.
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Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had May 10 for next court date.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016