Ex-doctor wins exemption from sex-offender registry
Laura Payton, The Province
Published: Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A former doctor convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault won't have to add his name to the national sex-offender registry.

Mark Walter Stewart was found guilty of inappropriately touching eight patients during breast and vaginal exams at his Campbell River practice between 1977 and 1996, and of having sex with one patient.

The B.C. Supreme Court granted Stewart an exemption from the registry, which came into effect while he was completing his parole.

The registry collects names, dates of birth, current addresses and phone numbers of sex offenders, as well as names of employers and volunteer organizations.

The files also include a description of the offender and any identifying marks.

Offenders must update officials when they leave the country, move or plan to be away from home for 15 days or more.

Stewart will not have to register because he is at low-risk to reoffend, Madam Justice Catherine Bruce wrote in her decision granting Stewart an exemption. Stewart retired in 1996.

The Crown argued for Stewart's addition to the registry because, despite completing sex offender programs in prison, Stewart continues to deny responsibility for the offences.

Stewart spent seven years on bail awaiting two trials and an appeal, and was released on day parole in February 2005, one year after he started his imprisonment.