SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – In the Lincoln County Courthouse on Tuesday, 60-year-old Roy Conrad, a former Sioux Falls therapist, was sentenced to prison for sexually taking advantage of one of his patients.
Michelle Trent, executive director of the Compass Center, was there for the hearing.
“Unfortunately, in our community, there’s been a lot of these types of cases where a person in a position of authority or a person in a position of trust has violated that trust,” Trent said. “Whether it be a soccer coach or a counselor or a doctor or a chiropractor, whomever it might be. So I think that the first thing that is always such an important part of recognizing of this case is that is sexual abuse.”
She says consent is a key point in cases like these.
“When you have a person in a position of power over another person, that person that’s underneath of that person in a position of power can’t ever consent because they’re not actually doing so in a way that allows them to give full consent,” Trent said.
But it can be hard for a victim to feel comfortable coming forward.
“Sometimes it can be almost confusing for the victim to say, ‘This thing happened and I feel really uncomfortable about it but the doctor said it was a medical procedure,'” Trent said. “And so knowing first and foremost that that is victimization and that they have a right and should have the right to safety in that setting. And that they can reach out and ask for help, that they can make reports.”
And if they do come forward, they are protected.
“We have laws in place for almost every helping profession in our state that protects patients, or clients or however they’re described by that person, from people in positions of authority or trust abusing that position for sexual gratification,” Trent said.
However, there are areas of the law that Trent wants to see improved.
“In this case specifically, one of the areas that we’re very disappointed in the law is that this is not a sex offender registry case,” Trent said. “The law doesn’t define it as something where Dr. Conrad will have to register as a sex offender and that, I think, is alarming and concerning because we know that the type of grooming behavior that existed in this and similar types of cases can easily go unnoticed until things are too late.”
Resources for victims of sexual assault:
- National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
- The Compass Center
- South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault
- Children’s Home Shelter for Family Safety
- The South Dakota Coalition Ending Domestic & Sexual Violence
- National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
