‘He knew what he was doing’: Yukon chiropractor required to surrender license after several sexual impropriety allegations
YUKON, Okla. (KFOR)- The Oklahoma Board of Chiropractic Examiners (OBCE) has ordered the Back Stop’s only chiropractor, Mark Kimble to surrender his license by next Monday after several sexual impropriety allegations against him have surfaced.
Oklahoma Board of Chiropractic Examiners confirmed with KFOR that there are seven alleged victims of Kimble’s who have come forward.
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News 4 first aired the story of Jacqueline Harrington in 2023. She’s the first victim to have publicly come forward with sexual assault allegations against Kimble. News 4 interviewed her in 2022.
“This changed me. It did,” said Harrington. “He knew what he was doing and he knew what he could get away with.”
According to an OBCE report, Dr. Kimble allegedly put Harrington’s legs in a sexual position and rubbed his genitalia against hers.
Harrington said in the process of that, he broke her tailbone.
“It’s been quite painful at times where I’m in tears, screaming in pain,” added Harrington.
In addition to Harrington’s complaint, six others were filed between May 2021 and November 2022.
The other complaints claim Dr. Kimble either touched their buttocks, rubbed himself against their genitalia, rubbed himself against their thighs, or had inappropriate conversations about his sex life.
The OBCE investigation revealed Dr. Kimble admitted to having two consensual sexual relationships with patients which the Board says is a clear violation of their Code of Ethics.
“Chiropractic physicians shall not abuse the physician’s position of trust by coercion, manipulation or fraudulent representation in the doctor-patient relationship,” the OBCE’s Code of Ethics reads.
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The OBCE’s Code of Ethics states chiropractic physicians cannot engage in sexual misconduct during a doctor-patient relationship.
The doctor-patient relationship must be terminated before dating or having a sexual relationship with a patient, according to the OBCE’s Code of Ethics.
Chiropractors are also not allowed to engage in sexual impropriety and sexual violations.
After nearly two years of the OBCE investigating, the Board moved forward with disciplinary action in February of 2023.
Dr. Kimble had his chiropractic license suspended for four months beginning March 1, 2023.
Dr. Kimble was also required to complete the Ethics and Boundaries Assessment Services (EBAS) Ethics and Boundaries Essay Examination.
Once Dr. Kimble’s suspension was lifted, he was placed on an 18 month probation.
During the remainder of his professional licensure by OBCE, Dr. Kimble will be required to have a female employee present in the treatment room when treating a female patient, according to OBCE.
However, new documents from the OBCE reveal Dr. Kimble violated the term of always having a female chaperone with him while treating female patients.
According to the OBCE, the agency received another sexual impropriety complaint against Dr. Kimble in late January.
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Dr. Kimble was accused of “caressing” a female patient’s bottom and upper legs, and rubbed the inside of her upper thighs.
Additionally, documents allege Dr. Kimble would press his body against that same female patient’s lower back and stroked her hair, telling her to “take it all off.”
Dr. Kimble is also accused of telling this female patient, “I knew your family was attractive, but I didn’t know you were this attractive.”
This all allegedly happened while a female chaperone was not present during the appointment.
In early February, the Back Stop underwent a compliance check by the OBCE.
A receptionist who acted as the chaperone during Dr. Kimble’s female appointments admitted to only being present in the room “about half” of the time, according to records.
The OBCE is now requiring Dr. Kimble to surrender his chiropractic license by Monday, April 15.
Dr. Kimble will not be allowed to reapply for a license until two and a half years have elapsed from the date of surrender.
Dr. Kimble signed off on the Board’s request March 28.
News 4 previously spoke with Dr. Kimble over social media and he said, “It was a huge mistake and I’m paying for it.”
Dr. Kimble also said Harrington’s claims of breaking her tailbone aren’t true.
“I still haven’t heard anything from any doctor or seen any x-rays showing [Jacqueline Harrington] was injured. If I did injure her, then I would like to know and try to remedy the situation like most doctors would, but she still hasn’t told me. I would never touch her inappropriately, and I never assaulted her,” explained Dr. Kimble. “I’m not a perfect person, but I would never sexually assault anyone or hurt anyone on purpose.”
Dr. Kimble continued his statement with, “I am not that kind of person and this will ruin me.”
The sexual impropriety complaint filed this year by a former female patient has now also filed a lawsuit against Dr. Kimble for:
Assault and Battery
Negligence
Medical Malpractice
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Breach of Contract
The attorney representing both Harrington and the other former female patient, Conner Helms told KFOR, “There’s more. There are more. I’ve personally talked to other victims that just don’t want to go public for privacy reasons.”
Helms claims there are at least 11 victims in total.
“I have opinions that as a professional, I can’t just come out and say, because the rules of professional responsibility require me to take on the role of just the representative. But to say there’s no proof is to disregard all of these statements of the actual victims that he attacked. I haven’t done all of my discovery yet. It’s my understanding his daughter works there. What did she see? What did she know? There was a significant other who also worked there, then are no longer a couple or something like that. What do they know?,” asked Helms.
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Helms said he believes there is an abundance of proof that will soon see the light. Part of that evidence was Dr. Kimble not apologizing to the alleged victims or his chiropractic colleagues during his OBCE hearing in March.
“It was very clear he didn’t have any evidence to defend himself,” said Helms. “We’re going to have all seven of these people come testify that are shown here on this consent order.”
He added the OBCE requiring Dr. Kimble surrender his license by Next Monday helps his clients’ case and shows at least some substantiation behind their claims.
While News 4 visited with Helms Tuesday afternoon, we asked why criminal charges hadn’t been filed against Dr. Kimble.
While Helms isn’t handling the criminal portion of this case, he called the Canadian County District Attorney’s Office (CCDA) to get an update on potential criminal charges.
The Canadian County District Attorney’s Office said it has declined to pursue charges.
“I’m disappointed,” he told the Canadian County DA’s Office.
“The District Attorney of Canadian County has refused to prosecute and there’s not anybody I can talk to about that,” added Helms.
Helms plans to schedule a future meeting with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office to see what’s next.
The CCDA’s decision to not pursue criminal charges will not impede the two civil cases against Dr. Kimble, said Helms.
“[Dr. Kimble] can’t prolong it any longer,” he stated.
News 4 asked with 11 alleged victims – only seven on the record – could this turn into a class action lawsuit? Helms said no because the number of alleged victims has to reach at least 50.
News 4 reached out to Dr. Kimble again via social media, but he never responded.
Dr. Kimble is among four Oklahoma chiropractic physicians to be accused of sexual impropriety in the last two years. OBCE did not confirm if any of those allegations were proven to be true.
“We would encourage the patient to contact local law enforcement and file a police report, and then file a complaint with the Oklahoma Board of Chiropractic Examiners,” said the Oklahoma State Board of Chiropractic Examiners Executive Director, Beth Kidd.
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