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Great Falls Chiropractor’s License Revoked Over Sex Assault Allegations

Reese Riggin lost his chiropractic license in Idaho over similar allegations in 1997

By Molly Priddy

HELENA —

The state Board of Chiropractors has revoked the license of Reese Riggin of Great Falls after two women testified he sexually assaulted them while performing chiropractic treatment he required them to receive as part of their employment.

The board ordered immediate revocation of Riggin’s license on Aug. 7 and said he cannot seek reinstatement of his license for 10 years.

Attorney Steve Reida of Bozeman told the Great Falls Tribune that Riggin, 48, denies the allegations on which the revocation was made and is considering his appeal rights.

The action against Riggin began in January 2012 when a former employee filed a complaint alleging Riggin inappropriately touched her during purported chiropractic treatments and made sexual comments and asked her personal questions about intimate relationships. The woman worked at Big Sky Chiropractic from March 2009 to September 2010.

Administrative hearings on the woman’s complaint were held in February 2014, and another former employee testified that Riggin made similar advances toward her in 2011.

Both women said they were required to undergo chiropractic treatment as part of their jobs so they could better understand and communicate the benefits of receiving regular chiropractic care to patients. Both said the treatments began normally, but progressed to inappropriate touching.

The hearings examiner also found Riggin failed to keep records of treatments given to the complainant.

Riggin lost his chiropractic license in Idaho over similar allegations by three complainants in 1997, board records said. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of sexual exploitation by a medical care provider. He was sentenced in March 1999 to 10 days in jail, a $750 fine and two years of probation.

Washington state denied Riggin’s application for a license in 2001 while later that year, the Montana Board of Chiropractors denied Riggin’s application to sit for the chiropractic examination.

The sexual exploitation charge was dismissed in August 2006 after Riggin completed the terms of his probation. Idaho denied Riggin’s application to reinstate his license in September 2006, saying they did not have enough evidence to prove he had been rehabilitated.

Montana’s board denied Riggin a license in October 2007, saying he needed to first complete an ethics and boundaries exam given by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners and undergo a psychological and psychosexual evaluation.

In February 2008, the Montana board issued him a probationary license that required he be supervised for at least one year and that he have another person in the room when he was examining or administering chiropractic treatment to female patients.

“The severe sanction of revocation is appropriate in this case based upon previous efforts at rehabilitation proving unsuccessful and the seriousness of the conduct alleged” by Riggin’s former employee, the Department of Labor and Industry Hearings Bureau found.