Dentist’s discipline hearing focuses on staff party that ended in violence

A staff party that ended in bloodshed and broken bones was once again the focus as a discipline hearing continued for a Sarnia dentist accused of a long list of allegations including sexual abuse of a patient.

What took place involving Kevin Bacchus at a house party following the get-together at the Sarnia bar Two Amigos in November 2017 was discussed at length during his five-day criminal trial last year and has been brought up this week as he fights 18 claims levered by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario’s discipline committee.

Two witnesses who tested during Bacchus’s criminal trial returned to the stand Tuesday in front of the discipline committee. Bacchus is expected to be sentenced soon for an aggravated assault conviction for stabbing a former patient, but he says he plans to appeal his sentence.

The witnesses can’t be named because of a publication ban that protects the identity of patients, but one recalled being awakened around 3 or 4 am and told a man had confronted Bacchus after allegedly walking in on him having sex with his wife.

Bacchus did previously admit to having an affair with a different woman before she became his patient – ​​her timeline of when she became his patient was different – ​​but has denied anything happened with this woman.

The witness Tuesday recalled driving towards Bacchus’s house and seeing him walking barefoot and shirtless on that cold late November Sunday morning.

“My perception was he was quite intoxicated,” he said.

But he denied hearing the woman’s husband confronted Bacchus, a 51-year-old second-generation dentist who practiced in Sarnia and Wallaceburg, with a baseball bat.

The second witness, however, did recall either a hockey stick or a baseball bat being used in the altercation. Noticing swelling on Bacchus’s head, hand and foot, the witness took him to the emergency room for X-rays that showed some broken bones.

The hearing, which has stretched across several months, is finally nearing the finish line. Another session set for Wednesday was canceled due to the lack of availability of a final witness and it will resume Monday.

In the meantime, lawyers on both sides are working on a potential agreed statement of facts for one of the five cases the college investigated and sent to its discipline committee. Closing arguments, both written and orally, will take place in May.

The college called its evidence in previous months and Bacchus tested during four full-day sessions earlier in March. All five cases featuring the 18 allegations have been heard at the same time.

If a dentist is found guilty of allegations by the discipline committee, penalties can include remediation, restrictions, suspensions, revocation of his licence, fines up to $35,000, or any combination of those punishments.

Bacchus was found guilty in 2013 on seven college charges and was fined $5,000, suspended six months, reprimanded, had to take courses and had his practice monitored for two years. He still has his license while the latest allegations are outstanding and, despite recently selling his practices, wants to continue practicing part-time.

Bacchus was criminally charged in October 2019 with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon after he was accused of stabbing a man – a former patient – ​​in front of his home amid allegations of infidelity. He was convicted of both charges in September following the trial and is expected to be sentenced in April only for aggravated assault as the second charge was stayed.

The Crown has asked for three years in prison for the attack that involved bear spray, while Bacchus’s lawyer pushed for a suspended sentence and probation. Superior Court Justice Russell Raikes, who found Bacchus guilty, will come back with his decision soon.

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@ObserverTerry

THE COLLEGE’S ALLEGATIONS

The college’s 18 allegations, arising from five separate investigations, include:

• Four counts of disgraceful, dishonourable, unprofessional or unethical conduct
• Two counts of sexual abuse of a patient (sexual abuse has a different meaning under provincial legislation for health professionals as patients cannot give their consent)
• Two counts of signing a certificate, report or similar document containing a false, misleading or improper statement
• Two counts of submitting a false or misleading account or charge
• Two counts of abusing a patient
• Charging excessive or unreasonable fees
• Contravening a standard of practice or failing to maintain the standards of practice of the profession
• Failing to keep records as required by the regulations
• Prescribing, dispensing or selling a drug for an improper purpose, or inappropriately using authority to prescribe
• Recommending or providing an unnecessary dental service
• Treating without consent