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A former Kelowna massage therapist has been ordered to pay $25,000 after being found guilty of being sexually inappropriate with several female patients.

In an Oct. 26 decision, the College of Massage Therapists of B.C. said Robert Morgan had abused his position of power, authority and trust, and misled his patients.

"Morgan’s misconduct is at the most serious end of the spectrum because it was sexual, involving sexual touching, (and) there were multiple instances of the conduct over a prolonged period of time," the decision reads.

Morgan was found guilty of professional misconduct in June 2021.

READ MORE: Kelowna massage therapist found guilty of professional misconduct

The College found that in September 2015, Morgan had massaged a woman’s breasts for a non-therapeutic purpose, and failed to provide appropriate draping intentionally exposing her breasts.

Two years later in April 2017, Morgan touched a female patient's buttocks, breasts and nipples for a non-therapeutic purpose. He also failed to properly drape the patient and left her breasts and buttocks exposed when he was not treating that area of her body.

According to the decision, Morgan also told another patient in 2017 it was necessary to expose her breast to provide treatment, which wasn't true. He then touched her breasts for a "non-therapeutic purpose."

In the decision the College said, "a strong message must be sent to both the profession and the public that this conduct will not be tolerated in the massage therapy profession."

Morgan became a registered massage therapist in 2014 and stopped being registered after he failed to renew his membership in January 2019.

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According to the decision, Morgan did not acknowledge his misconduct and did not admit or contest any of the allegations. He also did not attend the hearing.

Ultimately the college fined Morgan $5,000 and ordered him to pay cost costs of $20,000. The decision says the costs are "considerably less" than 50 per cent of the actual legal cost of the case.

Whether Morgan ever actually pays the fine and costs is unclear. The decision says the College will not actively seek the costs but the money would have to be paid prior to any reinstatement.

Morgan has also been banned from applying to register as a massage therapist in B.C. for five years. The decision says the College has the power to determine whether or not Morgan would be reinstated after the five-year ban had expired.

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