Doctor accused in sexual assault case switches counsel
By Peggy Revell on May 8, 2018.
Medicine Hat News A Medicine Hat doctor charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a person with a disability has switched lawyers. On May 4, a Calgary-based lawyer came off the record for the accused, with local defence counsel Robert Robbenhaar being endorsed as counsel of record. At a brief appearance Monday, new counsel requested that for now the preliminary hearing date of June 26 remain standing, although as it is a “fairly substantive matter” it may be brought forward again to seek a new preliminary hearing date. The preliminary hearing was set in February, with defence electing the case be heard before a Queen’s Bench Judge. The charges against the doctor come from an alleged incident in June 2017, when an adult male patient attended a walk-in medical appointment and was sexually assaulted. Police announced charges against Dr. Ian Gebhardt, 55, in August. The accused practised at the Crescent Heights Family Medical Clinic, but has since withdrawn from practice. 8-7
