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A victim of a Vernon doctor currently serving jail time for sexually assaulting her is taking civil legal action against him.

Hilary Diane Davies filed a case in the BC Supreme Court against Dr. Peter Clinton Inkpen seeking compensation for his abuse.

In the court documents, Davies is also suing Inkpen's wife, who managed the clinic at the time, and a handful of other staff, including two other victims who worked for the doctor when he sexually assaulted them.

In June, Dr. Inkpen was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for sexually assaulting Davies and two staff members.

The court documents said Inkpen's wife and the staffers, "knew or ought to have known" he was suffering from a mental condition and was at risk of sexually harassing and assaulting females, but failed to report him.

Two of Inkpen's victims worked for him at separate times years before Davies became a patient. The doctor had practiced on the women with an ultrasound machine but sexualized the practice. Neither woman came forward and reported him until early this year.

When reached for comment, Davies' lawyer, Sandy Kovacs, defended the decision to take legal action against two of Inkpen's victims saying the decision was made "cautiously," and not without moral dilemma.

"The plaintiff and her counsel have absolutely no desire to re-traumatize other victims. We appreciate that the reasons are complex as to why victims do not come forward," Kovacs said in an email. "Ms. Davies and her counsel must do their due diligence with examinations for discovery through the civil process, investigating the culture and the reasons that prevented these two victims, who worked at the clinic, and possibly other staff, from alerting the College (of Physicians and Surgeons of BC) or the police sooner, which would have prevented the harm to Ms. Davies."

The lawyer said it was anticipated that the defendants would have insurance to cover the legal proceedings.

"It is important that Ms. Davies have full opportunity to investigate how it is that her abuse happened, and how it could have been prevented; without this opportunity, we cannot begin to understand how someone like Dr. Inkpen can perpetrate sexual assaults for years without consequence," the statement from Kovacs said. "More than anything, Ms. Davies wants to spare other patients her suffering, through prevention."

The newly filed court documents lay out much of the information heard during the criminal proceedings.

In 2018, Davies lived in the Okanagan and went to see Inkpen at his clinic The Exercise Medicine and EMG Clinic in Vernon.

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In an unusual move, Davies lifted a publication ban on her name.

The court documents said she has a significant pre-existing history of chronic pain and osteoarthritis, as well as a major depressive disorder, anxiety, agoraphobia and post-traumatic stress symptoms, with a history of suicidal ideation.

"Due to her underlying complex medical conditions, (Davies) was highly vulnerable and dependent on regular medical therapies from specialized physicians to maintain her function and quality of life," the Notice of Claim stated.

However, Davies said Inkpen engaged in a "continuum of interdependent coercive grooming behaviours and sexual assaults."

He invited Davies to lunch and tried to kiss her, before saying he wouldn't cross that boundary again.

He talked about his mental health challenges and martial discord and exploited Davies' diminished self-esteem and social isolation and told her he cared for her, the court documents read.

The court documents said while she was impaired by analgesics he gave her by injection he performed oral sex on her multiple times at the clinic. In the same scenario, she performed oral sex on him at the clinic.

He got her to get psilocybin - the key ingredient in magic mushrooms - for him.

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During the criminal proceedings, the court heard how Inkpen had gone to Davies' house and they'd had sex.

"Ms. Davies did not consent to sexual intercourse with Dr. Inkpen. Dr. Inkpen believes that Ms. Davies was consenting but Ms. Davies did not communicate her consent with him and Dr. Inkpen did not honestly believe he did so," the Crown prosecutor had told the court. "Dr. Inkpen did not take reasonable steps to confirm that Ms. Davies was consenting."

The new court document is far more blunt in its description of what took place.

"He vaginally raped (Davies) while he knew she was impaired by a microdose of psilocybin," the Notice of Claim read.

The Notice of Claim said Inkpen told Davies not to tell anyone about their sexual contact and if she did no one would believe her.

Davies is suing for aggravated damages, punitive damages, loss of past and future earning capacity, along with a multitude of other damages. There's no dollar amount listed.

None of the defendants have yet to file a response. None of the allegations against Inkpen's wife or the staffer members have been proven in court.

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