Chiropractor Charged With Abusing Patients

OSKALOOSA, Iowa -- A police interview was played for the jury Monday morning in the trial of a chiropractor accused of sexually abusing his patients.

Jason Ebelsheiser is charged with seven counts of sexual abuse for inappropriately touching woman patients at his Oskaloosa clinic.

Monday, the prosecution started by interviewing Lt. Troy Boston of the Oskaloosa Police Department.

An audio tape of the interview between Boston and Ebelsheier from 2008 was played in court. It lasted about an hour. The interview happened after five women came forward and complained about Ebelsheiser to the police.

On the tape, Ebelsheiser repeatedly said he was just doing his job and did nothing wrong.

Ebelsheiser said he explained to each of the patients that there was a chance he would touch their vagina during the procedure and each gave their consent.

Look for updates on KCCI-TV and here on KCCI.com.

Friday Testimony

A heated exchange happened Friday at the trial of a chiropractor accused of sexually abusing his patients.

Friday morning, a 21-year-old woman took the stand to tell her story. She was 17 years old when she said she was abused by her chiropractor. She said she was a patient because of sports-related injuries.

KCCI's Mark Tauscheck said she became very emotional on the witness stand while recounting her story for the jury.

She said Ebelsheiser asked if he could push on her underwear line and she said yes. But she said his hand went inside her underwear.

She said she, "froze up like a bad dream" and when she asked the doctor why he had to do that, he responded "I need to release your inner thigh muscles" and then while he continued to rub her said "sorry, I'm almost done."

Defense attorney Leon Spies asked the woman several times if Ebelsheiser had asked if he could touch her below the underwear line. The woman said she had told him no.

Spies then asked if that was the story that she had told detectives. A fiery exchange happened next. At one point, the woman screamed out, “I know what I said to the detective. You're trying to trick me”

The trial is expected to resume Monday morning.

Thursday Testimony

Three women did their best to fight back tears Thursday as they recalled their visits to Jason Ebelsheiser for a jury. The Oskaloosa chiropractor on trial after being charged with sexually abusing his patients.

The first witness told the court she came to Ebelsheiser because she was experiencing severe pain due to her pregnancy. She testified the chiropractor had her lie on a table asked her to unbutton her pants and then she said he put his bare hands inside her underwear.

The woman told the court "(I was) trying to figure out in my own mind whether it was right or wrong because it made me feel horribly dirty after leaving."

The second female patient on the witness stand, a mother of four who had recently suffered a miscarriage, said Ebelsheiser penetrated her with his fingers during a treatment.

She told the court, "I was so uncomfortable all I could do was turn my head and cry."

She said that only after she learned the doctor was under investigation did she make the decision to come forward to Oskaloosa police investigators.

A third female patient, who was seeing Ebelsheiser for neck pain and headaches said, " I was in shock." She said the doctor went inside her pants and "put his hand in an area where I didn't feel comfortable and pushed around."

The defense claims any contact was inadvertent and not sexual in nature.

Defense Attorney Leon Spies during in cross examination asked one woman patient alleging abuse if she was happy with the doctor's treatment and if she recommended him to other people. She answered yes on both counts.

The day ended with a forensic expert telling the jury it appears some of the victim's records were altered after their treatment. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation expert said examinations reveal Ebelsheiser's handwritten entries were made months after the original appointment.

Prosecutors said that shows he was adding things to their files that would seemingly justify his actions, which could mount to medical records tampering.

Expert: Patients Should Know What To Expect

Chiropractor Braxton Pulley, who was not associated with the case, said appropriate contact can vary depending on a patient's pain and symptoms. He said even if it's appropriate, the patient should understand and feel comfortable with the treatment.

"If you ever feel uncomfortable, you have every right and comfort to say, 'Whoa, stop,'" he said. "If, after that conversation, you're still not comfortable with what's going on, leave."

He said doctors should make sure patients understand what's going to happen so that there are no surprises.

"You have basically an agreement that here's what we're doing, here's why we're doing it, here's some options to make this more comfortable and ways that we can achieve what we need to achieve," Pulley said.

He said the case is giving the entire profession a black eye. He said he wants patients to understand that incidents like those alleged in the case are not the norm. He said if something doesn't feel right, patients can take their concerns to the state chiropractic board.

"Say, 'Here's my experience. Is this typical? Is this normal?' Then get some feedback from another source and you can also talk to your medical doctor. You can talk to whoever," Pulley said.

Wednesday Testimony

Testimony started Wednesday and continues today in the trial of a chiropractor accused of sexually abusing his patients.

In a courtroom so packed that officials had to setup extra folding chairs, jurors heard the allegations of seven patients against their chiropractor, Jason Ebelsheiser.

"He abused the trust to feed a sexual desire in himself and to go places on women's bodies that he should not have been," said Becky Goettsch, the prosecuting attorney.

Prosecutors outlined the complaints in detail made by a high school student, a soon-t-be bride and a pregnant mother, among others. They said the appointments would start like normal.

"And then also, without warning, without explanation of any kind, he proceeds to put his hands down the front of her pants, down into her underwear," said Goettsch.

Ebelsheiser's attorney, Leon Spies said what scared the patients and made them uncomfortable was incidental, accidental contact.

"He was a licensed chiropractor doing treatment work and in the course of his work, he may have inadvertently touched the vaginal areas of some of his patients," said Spies.

Spies said the 34-year-old Oskaloosa native learned soft tissue techniques from specialists and lectures.

"Jason Ebelsheiser became, in this community, kind of a pioneer of a wide variety of chiropractic treatments, not necessarily those taught at his alma mater, Palmer College," said Spies.

But an instructor from Palmer College of Chiropractic testified that even those techniques wouldn't normally involve going inside a woman's underwear.

"They might brush, but that would be momentary seconds. Not even seconds. Less than a second," said Dr. Ron Boesch.

The judge has decided that victim's testimony will not be recorded on audio or video.

In Their Own Words: Prosecutor Becky Goettsch

“And then he says to her, ‘Ooops, sorry, got a little carried away?’ What do you say to that? What words do you find to deal with that situation when your chiropractor tells you, ‘Oops, I got a little carried away."

“That’s a common theme that you see here. There’s a little testing with these patents. How far can I go? Are they going to say anything? Are they going to object?”

“She will tell you she’s laying on the table, thinking, ‘What on Earth is going on?” She says “I didn’t have the words to stop it. I trusted him.”

“Without any sort of explanation, he puts his ungloved, bare hand down into her pants, down into her underwear, between her legs and started rubbing her bare genitals.”

“Jason Ebelsheiser loved the power that that trust gave him. He loved and was intoxicated by that power and that love that his patients gave him."

“He abused the trust to feed a sexual desire in himself and to go places on women’s bodies that wh should not have been.”

“He used that trust, ladies and gentlemen, to sexually abuse his patients and that’s what the evidence is going to show in this case.”

In His Own Words: Defense Attorney Leon Spies

“Jason Ebelsheiser became, in this community, kind of a pioneer of a wide variety of chiropractic treatments, not necessarily those taught at his alma mater, Palmer College.”

“He was a licensed chiropractor doing treatment work and in the course of his work, he may have inadvertently touched the vaginal areas of some of his patients.”

“The evidence in this case will show that Dr. Ebelsheiser had a flourishing, active practice, that among his patients were the complaining witnesses who will come in here to testify about the care they received, the whole care they received. You’ll also see any touching that occurred was inadvertent, it was not sexual in nature, it was not purposeful, it was not violented. It may have been misunderstood, it may have been scary, but not sexual abuse."




SO pretty much they are saying that a Chiropractor was sexually harrassnig patients, WHICH IS WRONG!!!!!

Shooting Reported At Grocery Store

POSTED: 11:38 am CDT October 25, 2010
UPDATED: 12:45 pm CDT October 25, 2010

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BOONE, Iowa -- A shooting has been reported at a grocery store in Boone on Monday morning.

Officials said police were called to the Hy-Vee store at 1111 8th St.

The incident happened inside the store, which has now been evacuated. Shoppers and employees were escorted from the scene. Police and employees are still outside the store.

Officials have not yet said what happened inside the store.

Few other details are available yet. Police are expected to make a statement in the next hour.

The Division of Criminal Investigation has been called to the scene to assist with the investigation.

Look for updates on this developing story on KCCI-TV and here on KCCI.com.