A man who says he was sexually assaulted by a disgraced former psychiatrist at Cambridge Memorial Hospital is suing the hospital for $950,000 for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
The lawsuit stems from the alleged abuse the man suffered at the hands of Dr. Allan Herbert Umar Khitab when the plaintiff was 16.
The lawsuit statement of claim filed earlier this month details the psychiatrist's alleged crimes in a career filled with a "persistent pattern of allegations of sexual abuse" dating back to the early '80s and claims hospital officials should have known enough to have prevented the abuse.
Khitab was working at Cambridge Memorial Hospital in 1994 when the plaintiff came under his medical care.
The plaintiff alleges the abuse began with inappropriate patting on his head, back and leg and progressed to the doctor putting his hands down the boy's pants and fondling him.
The plaintiff claims he told another physician at the hospital about the abuse. He subsequently disclosed the molestation and abuse to his probation officer, then authorities.
In or around 1999, Khitab was criminally charged with the sexual abuse of three adolescent boys between 1991 and 1994 while they were patients at CMH. Khitab was charged with four counts of sexual assault, five counts of sexual exploitation one count of invitation to sexual touching, and one count of sexual interference.
Although he was acquitted of all charges in 2001, the discipline committee at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario accepted a guilty plea and found him "guilty of professional misconduct with regard to disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional conduct with regard to crossing boundaries of a sexual nature."
Khitab was reprimanded, his license was revoked and he was ordered to pay the hearing costs.
In addition, he was ordered cease practicing and not to apply to the CPSO or any other licensing body in any jurisdiction for a license to practise medicine.
In 2012, Khitab was charged with the sexual assault of the plaintiff and other men who were adolescent patients at the hospital around 1994. He was committed to stand trial following a preliminary hearing but the Crown eventually withdrew some of the charges and the rest were dismissed.
In 2014, Khitab was charged again with the sexual assault and sexual interference of two former patients in 1994.
Two years later those charges were also dismissed.
Khitab was 78 at the time.
The lawsuit details how Khitab began his career as a psychiatrist in Scotland at a youth detention facility where he was accused by inmates of inappropriate behaviour.
The Scottish court determined there wasn't enough evidence for the case to move forward, the lawsuit claims.
Khitab then moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where he worked as a staff psychiatrist at a hospital between 1981 and 1984.
Police there investigated sexual abuse allegations made by two teenage boys but that case was dropped for insufficient evidence, the lawsuit claims.
Between 1984 and 1989, Khitab worked at the Saint John Hospital and was suspended after a patient complained of sexual abuse. He was found not guilty by the medical advisory committee. Saint John police also investigated Khitab for sexual misconduct allegations made by "several adolescent boys" but no charges were laid, the lawsuit claims.
Lawyer for the plaintiff Linda O'Brien, of the Toronto firm Gluckstein Personal Injury Lawyers, says her client suffered a great deal at the hands of the accused and he is hoping for closure.
The sexual assault "caused permanent and extensive injuries and losses" to the plaintiff over the last 30 years, including "distrust and resentment toward authority figures, leading to conflicts with employers and educational institutions," reads the statement of claim.
Spokesperson for Cambridge Memorial Hospital Stephan Beckhoff said the hospital is unable to comment since the case is before the court.
