A physiotherapist who faced sexual assault charges for inappropriate touching at a Chilliwack clinic in 2019 will not spend any time behind bars.
Sanjay Amrutkar was handed a 12-month conditional sentence order, and 11 months probation on March 15.
Amrutkar, who was 39 at the time, had initially been charged with eight counts of sexual assault for inappropriately touching patients during treatments at a Chilliwack clinic.
Only a couple of days into the two-week trial in January 2023 in B.C. Supreme Court, the parties reached a plea agreement whereby the accused pleaded guilty to one count.
Before he was arrested in 2020 over two counts, Amrutkar had previously entered into a voluntary consent agreement for an inquiry by the College of Physical Therapists of B.C. after a complaint by a female patient alleging he “engaged in touching which appeared to be non-therapeutic in nature.”
He was still licensed to practise but a chaperone had to be present during treatment of female patients.
The trial in 2023 heard testimony from two witnesses before it ended. The names of both women, and six other complainants who came forward later, were protected throughout the proceedings by a publication ban.
The conditional sentence he received was for that one count of sexual assault that Amrutkar pleaded guilty to in 2023, and it was accompanied by a no-contact order.
A conditional sentencing order, sometimes called house arrest, is a sentence served in the community rather than in prison, with conditions that restrict movements.
Amrutkar was given a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and he is not allowed to practise physiotherapy in any capacity for the duration of the sentence.
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