More than a dozen women have contacted police following the arrest of a Battle Ground chiropractor accused of inappropriately touching female patients during treatment sessions. However, nearly half of the new cases fall outside the statute of limitations to press charges, according to the prosecutor.
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has filed additional charges against Mark S. LaRue to include six new alleged victims, in addition to the two women who first reported they had been abused.
LaRue, 64, of Kalama was in Superior Court on Tuesday for arraignment, but the hearing was pushed back to Friday in light of the new charges.
He is now facing one count of second-degree rape and eight counts of indecent liberties without forcible compulsion. He previously posted $10,000 bail, but the prosecution plans to ask for bail to be increased.
LaRue owns Battle Ground Family Chiropractic at 713 W. Main St., Suite 201, and has practiced chiropractic medicine at his clinic since 2002. He is licensed in both Washington and Oregon.
The Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners issued an order of emergency suspension of LaRue’s license July 2. The board found that the alleged misconduct is “grounds for immediate license suspension and amounts to unprofessional conduct.
“Licensee’s practice constitutes a clear and present danger to the health or safety of his patients and the public if allowed to continue before a hearing may be held,” the board wrote.
LaRue’s license has not been suspended in Washington, according to the Department of Health, but he is under investigation by the Chiropractic Quality Assurance Commission. As part of his conditions of release, the court ordered that he cannot treat female patients, Deputy Prosecutor Aaron Bartlett said.
LaRue was originally accused of touching a 22-year-old woman and her 47-year-old mother in a sexual manner during massage appointments in April and May. But since his arrest on June 29, investigators have spoken with 15 women, as documented in court records, all of whom were patients. That includes three former patients who had previously filed complaints against LaRue with the Department of Health. But police said there was insufficient evidence at that time to charge him.
Bartlett said that complaints by those three women and four others fall outside the three-year statute of limitations to charge LaRue with indecent liberties.
According to a newly filed probable cause affidavit, the 22-year-old woman reported to police that the sexual contact happened on several occasions. During her last appointment, LaRue took her to a storage room where he provided her with marijuana, and they smoked together. He then kissed her without her permission, and later inappropriately touched her during her massage, according to the allegations.
The woman’s mother — who typically scheduled her appointments after her daughter’s — said that during her own massages LaRue inappropriately brushed his body against hers and she believes it was intentional, the affidavit states.
In an interview with police, LaRue admitted to smoking marijuana with the younger woman and to kissing her. He said that during her massage, he may have accidentally touched her inappropriately, but he denied the other allegations. He also told police that in 2003 he was investigated by the Battle Ground Police Department for inappropriately touching a female patient.
After learning of the most recent allegations, LaRue’s receptionist reportedly told police that she wasn’t surprised. She said she noticed several things that were odd about how LaRue treated the 22-year-old woman compared with other clients. Her appointments always went longer, the massage room door was closed, and the woman never used a gown and removed her pants during the massage, court records said.
The investigation is ongoing and detectives ask that anyone with information contact Detective Sgt. Kim Armstrong at 360-342-5252 or by email at kim.armstrong@cityofbg.org.
