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Jury finds Orem chiropractor guilty in sex abuse case

Posted at 5:03 PM, Sep 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-22 19:03:08-04

OREM, Utah — A chiropractor from Orem has been found guilty of several charges including object rape after he was accused of inappropriately touching female patients.

Dr. Dale Harland Heath, 58, was taken into custody just before midnight Thursday after a jury found him guilty of object rape, forcible sexual abuse and three counts of sexual battery.

According to a press release from the Utah County Attorney’s Office, allegations against Heath were first reported in 2011 and then again in 2013. Heath denied those allegations but said he may have made “incidental” contact during his treatments that made the women uncomfortable.

Police and personnel from the Department of Professional Licensing spoke to Heath about safe practices, and the man agreed to have a chaperone present during all treatments involving female patients.

A third patient came forward in 2015 and reported that Heath had touched her inappropriately. She thought at first the contact was part of the treatments, but after a similar incident during a second visit she left and called police.

Police interviewed Heath, who claimed he had not been treating female patients without the supervision of a chaperone.

However, police interviewed chaperones who admitted to signing patient logs indicating they had chaperoned treatment sessions when in fact they were not present during the session. Those chaperones said they signed the logs at Heath’s request.

Heath will be sentenced November 21, 2017 in Fourth District Court.