Apartheid Doctor Charged with Sexual Abuse in Canada

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

CALGARY, Canada – A Canadian psychiatrist who worked in South Africa during the apartheid was charged with sexual abuse of a male patient on Thursday after a male patient filmed him making sexual advances on him. Dr. Aubrey Levin who has fallen under much criticism in the past for using electric shock therapy and chemical castration in attempts to “cure” gay men  during while working in the military during apartheid is being investigated on almost thirty similar claims made by former patients of his.

Dr. Aubrey Levin being escorted to a car on Thursday (PHOTO: CTV)
Dr. Aubrey Levin being escorted to a car on Thursday (PHOTO: CTV)

Levin began his controversial work with the apartheid military in 1969 at the Voortrekkerhoogte military hospital. He ‘treated’ homosexuals by attaching electrodes to them and showing them pictures of naked men which were paired with powerful electric shocks. He has also been accused of using chemical castration which left several men sterile. At least one of his former patients committed suicide.

Levin moved to Canada in 1995. He says he left because of the high crime rate in South Africa. He had been working at the University of Calgary Medical School up until charges were filed against him.

Several people have attempted to investigate him based on his work in South Africa. He has been able to dodge any serious public investigation up to this point by threatening law suits. He defends his actions in South Africa by saying they were standard practice at the time. He further claims that all patients were treated on a voluntary basis.

Levin was arrested Thursday after a patient secretly videotaped the doctor making sexual advances on him. The patient decided to make the tape after his pleas for help had been dismissed by authorities. The patient claims the abuse happened over the course of several years.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta has suspended Levin’s license to practice. They are also investigating charges of human rights abuses from when he was in South Africa. Levin is currently been released from jail on $50,000 dollars bail.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Doctor Shock Charged with Sexually Abusing Male Patient – 28 March 2010

Eye Witness News – Notorious Apartheid Psychiatrist Nabbed – 26 March 2010

News 24 – S A Psychiatrist Held in Canada – 25 March 2010

CTV –  Patient of Dr. Levin Speaks to CTV – 24 March 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive