CALGARY — A disgraced Calgary neurologist has again been sentenced to three years in prison for sexually assaulting dozens of patients over three decades.
Keith Hoyte pleaded guilty last year to assaulting 25 women and two teenage girls over a period of 36 years before his retirement in 2013.
In January 2020, Hoyte, 75, pleaded guilty to assaulting 28 other women and was handed a three-year sentence from which he had since been released from custody.
Hoyte has admitted to groping and fondling dozens of female patients between the ages of 16 and 46 from 1983 until he retired, but has denied he touched them for sexual gratification.
An agreed statement of facts says he instructed the patients to undress, even though they were seeking treatment for serious neurological issues, such as migraines, seizures, strokes and multiple sclerosis.
Hoyte addressed his victims during sentencing.
"As much as I wish I could, I won't ask for forgiveness, because there is no forgiveness for what I did," he told the court during his sentencing arguments in October.
"The remorse I feel is palpable and speaks to my profound shame and regret for the trauma and pain inflicted on each of you and the scars you all carry. I am deeply ashamed."
Court of King's Bench Justice Allan Fradsham said the only thing in Hoyte's favour in sentencing is that he pleaded guilty.
"I conclude that Dr. Hoyte's expressions of remorse and understanding are not genuine. He has no insight into his offending behaviour," said Fradsham in a written ruling Tuesday.
"I find that an appropriate global sentence for the matters before me is three years incarceration. Such a sentence gives appropriate but not excessive credit for the guilty plea."
Fradsham said the aggravating factors in the assaults included the age of the victims who were under 18 years of age, the significant effect his conduct had on the victims, and an abuse of trust between a doctor and patient.
"The severity of the offence is high because of the context within which it occurred," Fradsham wrote.
"When the physician was providing medical services to the patient, the degree of responsibility of the offender is also high."
The names of the victims are protected under a ban on publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2024.
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
