Local News in Brief : Chiropractor Charged With Rape of Patients
A Canoga Park chiropractor was charged Friday with four felony counts of rape and sexual battery against two female patients, authorities said.
Ronald Burton Schain, 51, of Canoga Park entered a plea of not guilty to the charges at his arraignment in Van Nuys Municipal Court. He was arrested earlier Friday morning at the clinic at 8231 Canoga Ave., where he has been a licensed chiropractor since 1976.
Schain was charged with one count of rape, one count of rape with a foreign object and two counts of sexual battery. If convicted, Schain could be sentenced to a maximum of 18 years.
Police began investigating Schain after a 21-year-old San Fernando woman reported that Schain had fondled her during her chiropractic treatment last October, according to Detective Bud Mehringer. The alleged rape involved a 33-year-old Woodland Hills woman and took place in January. Both women had been receiving treatment at the clinic several months before the alleged incidents.
Mehringer said that none of the other three doctors at the clinic, including Schain’s wife, is under investigation.
Schain was released on $75,000 bail. His preliminary hearing was set for March 12 in Van Nuys Municipal Court.
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