WASHINGTON — Warning: This story discusses sexual assault.
Former chiropractor Mark LaRue is currently sitting in a Washington prison, serving a 32-month sentence for rape and indecent liberties. LaRue was convicted in early 2023 after pleading guilty to inappropriately touching eight patients dating back as early as 2014.
While the case delivered some measure of justice for those eight women, KGW spoke to two women who said Dr. LaRue sexually assaulted them as early as 2004 – more than a decade before he was arrested for similar crimes. Police and medical board records show they weren’t alone in their accusations.
Those two women said they were failed by the institutions designed to protect patients from doctors who harm their patients. KGW dug into their stories as part of the documentary Sick Medicine.
Dr. LaRue’s case highlights just how difficult it can be to hold a medical professional accountable for committing sexual abuse, even when multiple patients come forward with credible accusations.
Stephanie LeCount was one of the first women to report Dr. LaRue for sexual misconduct.
“I couldn't believe that I could leave a doctor's office feeling so violated,” LeCount told KGW. She wrote a letter to the Washington Department of Health in 2004 detailing her experience.
LeCount, who had suffered migraines and neck and back pain, had gone to Dr. LaRue for chiropractic adjustments after a friend referred her to him. During her first treatment, LeCount recalled how Dr. LaRue instructed her to lay down on a table.
“When he would reach over me to do adjustments, he would rub his genitals on my body, on my hands. If my hands were down on my legs, um, he'd lean over and just basically be laying on my back. And it just seemed invasive. It seemed very uncomfortable,” LeCount said.
She went home feeling violated, but she desperately needed the chiropractic care, so she decided to return for one more visit. She returned and had her toddler son with her.
“I thought I would be safe if my kid was with me. And when I got there, it was just me and the chiropractor. There was no receptionist there at that time. And the chiropractor, without my permission, locked the front door and handed my son a little toy box full of toys and left my son in the waiting room,” she said. “I thought, oh no, you know, this doesn't feel right.”
LeCount said that Dr. LaRue asked her to take her bra off and handed her a small hand towel to cover herself.
“While he was massaging me, he would bring my arms back behind my back far enough to where my breast would be exposed and he would be massaging it too,” LeCount said. “I've never had a massage therapist touch my breast before.”
During her adjustment, LeCount said she could once again feel Dr. LaRue’s genitals against her hand.
“He was rubbing himself on me. I knew at that point I would never go back. I knew he had crossed lines. I knew what he was doing was inappropriate and I went home and started on my letter right away.”
She was unaware that another woman had filed a similar complaint the year before, yet no action was taken against Dr. LaRue’s practitioner license.
In 2003, a woman reported to state health officials that Dr. LaRue inappropriately massaged her breasts during her appointment. Police opened a criminal investigation, which ended with prosecutors declining to pursue the case, saying no crime had been committed.
KGW obtained a police report from that time that offers some insight as to why prosecutors declined to pursue charges. According to the report, a prosecutor told a detective that there is a “gray area” in cases where doctors are accused of touching patients. The prosecutor recommended that no criminal charges be filed. Police then closed the case.
A third victim comes forward
Shortly after Stephanie LeCount filed her complaint in 2004, a third woman came forward with similar accusations. She reported Dr. LaRue to the state of Washington.
Yet according to Washington Department of Health records, nothing came of the report. Despite three accusations to either health officials or police, Dr. LaRue was allowed to treat patients for another 13 years before any new allegations surfaced.
In 2017, nearly 15 years after the first patient had reported Dr. LaRue, two women came forward with new allegations. They reported LaRue to the Battle Ground Police Department, the same agency that investigated the original complaint against the chiropractor.
Police records show a 22-year-old woman reported that during her treatment, Dr. LaRue inserted his finger into her vagina without consent.
The second woman told investigators that LaRue touched his semi-erect penis to her hands during an adjustment.
During the criminal investigation, police uncovered at least 12 additional patients who reported similar experiences with Dr. LaRue, according to police records.
They include women like Christina Suarez, who said her children were sitting in the waiting room when Dr. LaRue allegedly touched her inappropriately during two different exams.
“It was kind of confusing in my head because I'm like, well, maybe it's just me being oversensitive. Maybe he's a professional,” said Suarez, who was afraid to report LaRue out of fear of not being believed.
Suarez feels that had state health officials taken the original three allegations seriously in 2003 and 2004, none of the other women would have been victimized.
“A physician has a far greater responsibility than that. It should be taken very seriously. You take a medical oath, you have a great responsibility,” Suarez said. “When things are reported, they should not be sloughed off, they should be investigated. And accountability is important.”
In January 2023, 70-year-old Mark LaRue pleaded guilty to 3rd degree rape and indecent liberties for the crimes committed in 2017. A Clark County Superior Court judge sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender once he’s released.
But Dr. LaRue will never face charges for accusations leveled by women like Stephanie LeCount. The statute of limitations had expired.
“My word really meant nothing,” LeCount said.
She feels like the system designed to protect patients failed.
“I feel like I was failed on my own behalf and on the behalf of every other woman out there,” LeCounty said. “I tried to protect the other women.”
KGW attempted to contact Mark LaRue in prison for comment for this story. He did not respond.