'A feeling burned on your body': Witnesses continue to testify in sexual assault trial involving chiropractor

Two more alleged victims of 49-year-old Ruben Manz, a Regina chiropractor facing seven counts of sexual assault, all from former patients, provided testimony on Thursday.

Witness number three continued on the stand for cross examination. This witness testified that she visited Manz 'a handful of times' and felt a neck stretch performed by the chiropractor progressively become more uncomfortable.

The defence team questioned the witness's ability to recall which visits to the chiropractor resulted in her feeling uncomfortable.

"I knew for sure the last two times" the witness said when trying to recall at which point she felt Manz's hands on her breast, causing a sense of alarm.

"A date burned in your mind and a feeling burned on your body are two different things," said the witness.

The defence brought forward the Argyle Natural Health Centre's consent form, which was signed by the witness before Manz began treatment.

"I'm consenting to spinal adjustments...I don't feel that pulling on a breast is part of a treatment, I don't feel that I would've even had to say that in the beginning," said the witness.

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The defence continued to question why the witness did not withdrawal consent upon feeling uncomfortable, to which the witness replied:

"They [medical professionals] don't know when somebody doesn't feel comfortable unless the verbalize it. However, people who don't feel comfortable, when they feel like they're being sexually assaulted, they freeze up. They don't know what to do and sometimes because they trust the medical professional."

Although she did not return to Manz after recognizing the feeling of discomfort, the witness did not immediately go to police. Like the other five alleged victims, this witness got in contact with the Regina Police Service (RPS) after seeing an RPS media release after Manz's arrest in 2021 seeking other potential victims.

"I was too scared to say that a doctor who is supposed to be a professional did anything wrong to me," said the witness.

Fourth witness

The fourth alleged victim began seeing Manz in 2016 for help treating pain caused by her pregnancy. This woman returned to Manz several times after he allegedly began performing the very same neck stretch recalled by the other women, which ended in the chiropractor putting his hand on her breast.

The woman tearfully recalled that while she felt uncomfortable, she trusted the chiropractor.

"At the time, I felt I was just anxious because I was with a medical person. I thought I was just nervous for the appointment...I didn't really understand my anxiety around the appointments until later on, but I do remember feeling anxious leading up to the appointments, during the appointments, after the appointments.

I knew I felt uncomfortable, and I think I had told myself that...whatever is going on, any ways that he is touching me is for the benefit of the discomfort I've been feeling or the back pain and I just kept reminding myself that I could trust him because he's very friendly," said the witness.

It was after seeing the 2021 RPS news release and accompanying news articles, that the witness recalled having 'an overwhelming realization' that the anxiety she felt around visiting the chiropractor was because her experience classified a sexual assault.

This witness testified to having her breasts touched by Manz during treatment 'at least five or six times'.

"When I read that it was very overwhelming because I think the trust that I had been depending on sort of dissolved. And I came to understand what had been happening and I just had a lot of feelings around that," said the witness.