It was nearly a decade before a woman came forward with information on the sexual misconduct of a Halifax psychiatrist. According to Statistics Canada only 12 per cent of sexual assaults are ever reported and often childhood sexual abuse is not reported until later in life.

Nancy Ross teaches in the department of social work at Dalhousie University and is researching how to make coming forward with reports of sexual abuse easier for women. She says it’s not uncommon for women to not open up about issues related to childhood sexual abuse until later in life.

“For some women they may not even recognize it as abuse at the time because they’re a child,” says Ross, “and often if it’s a care-giver or someone that they’ve trusted, they may not see it fully as abuse.”

Curtis Steele is the psychiatrist who lost his licence after a woman filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia College of Physicians and Surgeons 10 years after he allegedly took nude photos of her when she was a 14-year-old patient. She also filed a civil suit against him.

Steele went to high school in New York, according to his Facebook, before moving to New Orleans to attend Tulane University. He graduated in 1958 with his medical degree and went on to study at the same university for his psychiatric specialty.

In 1967 he was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry before moving to Nova Scotia, where he got his licence to practice medicine in the province.

According to the statement of action in the civil case against Steele, in 2003 the woman, who was then 14, was referred to him for symptoms of depression.

She went for eight session over the course of a year. In the settlement agreement from the college, it says the photos were not taken until the last session.

Ross says that a lot of women who are sexually abused by a doctor or someone in a position of trust and authority, might be afraid to come forward because doctors hold a lot of credibility. “To bring something forward that’s going to discredit them,” she says, “I think would take a lot of courage.”

She also says since Steele was the girl’s psychiatrist he would have had access to her personal feelings, making his sexual misconduct an even greater breach of trust.

Steele had his own private practice in Halifax on Coburg Road and worked at the Community Mental Health Clinic of the Capital District Health Authority. He was also a faculty member at Dalhousie.

 

While Steele was treating her, the woman claims Steele said he was also a photographer. In her notice of action she says he asked if she wanted to do some modeling for him. She undressed and then he took photos of her. She never returned to see him.

Ross says there are many reasons why a woman wouldn’t come forward with information about childhood sexual abuse or not report it until later in life. They may not have known that what was happening was abuse, and even though it was not their fault they may feel shame or guilt. “So sometimes they try to bury it and not deal with it,” says Ross, “and a lot of times they just try to forget about it.”

The settlement agreement from the college, says Steele “lacked the necessary insight of psychiatrist in failing to immediately recognize the impropriety of taking the photos.”

Pattie LeCroix, the media contact for the college, says Steele’s case is rare among the complaints the college receives each year. In their annual report the college says they reviewed 217 physicians in 2013.

It may be a rare case for a doctor to be accused of sexual misconduct, but unfortunately it’s not rare for women in Nova Scotia to experience childhood sexual abuse. Ross says nearly one in four women will have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their life.

After Steele allegedly took the nude photos and stopped seeing the patient, he continued to work at the mental health clinic, operate his own practice and teach at Dalhousie for almost a decade. Until the patient came forward.

The woman, now in her early twenties, filed a civil suit against Steele in August of 2013 and filed a complaint with the college in September. His licence was suspended in December while the college investigated. He stopped working at the mental health clinic and retired from Dalhousie that same year.

There are many reasons why women finally do come forward, “but a lot of time I think it’s for their own personal sense of justice,” says Ross. She says it also shows themselves that they are valuable and it should never have happened, and some women feel it will help end the stigma and silence around sexual abuse.

Women who are sexually abused can experience depression, anxiety and often substance abuse says Ross, along with confusion about what is a healthy sex life, and it could affect their self-esteem and self-worth.

LeCroix says the college couldn’t speculate why it took this particular woman so long to come forward with the report of sexual misconduct, “but as soon as it comes to us we address it immediately.”

Eighty-eight per cent of sexual abuse is not reported to police according to Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey.

After the college investigated the claim and spoke with the woman and her parents, Steele’s licence to practice medicine was revoked and he is not eligible to apply for a new licence to practice in Nova Scotia at any time.

Women coming forward, like Steele’s former patient, and reporting sexual abuse is a step in the right direction. “I think every time you hold someone accountable for their actions and do so in a way that the public knows about it,” says Ross, “it has an impact.”

Ross says women often come forward later in life, because once they’ve matured it’s harder to suppress and they gain perspective realizing it was not their fault.

Ross says that Nova Scotia has a lot to do in order to make it easier for women to come forward. Including having a sensitive, kind and encouraging approach to helping women come forward and deal with their experience. And a broader education in schools that “normalizes the experience, because sadly it’s a fairly normal experience I think for women in Nova Scotia to experience a form of childhood sexual abuse.”