Massachusetts Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Last Friday Richard J. Bernier of Byfield, Massachusetts was arrested and charged with Indecent Assault and Battery on a Person Over Fourteen Years of Age. The charges came after one of Bernier's patients changed therapists and learned that Bernier's treatments were unconventional and in her mind amounted to a sexual assault. Specifically, the woman, who suffered from lower back and hip pain complained that the defendant would pull her pants down and massaged her body while she was completely naked. Treatments totaling six or seven visits continued for a three month period. The prosecution further alleged that Bernier made inappropriate comments to the victim after which he made arguably incriminating statements in the presence of his receptionist. The investigation spanned six months. The case will be prosecuted in the Newburyport District Court.

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Physical Therapist Charged With Inappropriate Touching of Patient

Indecent Assault and Battery in Massachusetts

To convict someone of this crime the prosecutor must show that Bernier committed an act or series of acts which are fundamentally offensive to contemporary moral values. He must have engaged in behavior which the common sense of society would regard as immodest, immoral and improper. Specifically, the intentional, unjustified touching of private areas such as the breasts, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, and pubic area of a female constitute an indecent assault and battery. Most cases dealing with indecent assault and battery include the buttocks as a private area that, if intentionally touched, would violate "our contemporary views of personal integrity and privacy."

Here, the district attorney's case rests almost entirely on the credibility of the complaining witness. Experienced Massachusetts Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers will question the timing of the victim's disclosures and any motivation that might underlie her disclosures. The observations of the receptionist will also be of particular interest here. Did she in fact hear Bernier make the statements the victim claims he made? Was she or anyone else present for the treatments and examination? What was the victim's demeanor after the treatments? The answers to these questions might provide fertile viable grounds for Bernier's defense.