A medical specialist convicted last month of sexually assaulting a woman with an accomplice was provisionally disbarred by the College of Physicians this week to protect the public. Stephan Probst also lost his position as head of department at the Jewish General Hospital.
The 46-year-old Montrealer and his partner Wendy Devera were found guilty of gang rape on August 29 at the Montreal courthouse. A verdict that prompted the board of directors of the Collège des médecins to act by provisionally disbarring the doctor last Tuesday.
“The Committee on Requests (CRE) concluded that there is a link between the criminal offence committed by the Dr Probst was found guilty and the practice of the medical profession, and that the provisional disbarment is necessary for the protection of the public,” explains Leslie Labranche, spokesperson for the Collège des médecins du Québec.
Stephan Probst had been practicing at the Jewish General Hospital since 2010 and had been head of the nuclear medicine division since 2013. However, he lost his position when he was found guilty last August. He has not practiced at the Jewish General Hospital since the verdict, says a spokesperson for the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Ile-de-Montréal.
“The Dr Probst can no longer practice medicine at the Jewish General Hospital for the duration of the temporary disbarment imposed by the Collège des médecins du Québec,” adds spokesperson Carl Thériault.
Stephan Probst was a prominent physician when he sexually assaulted Victoria* in his Old Montreal penthouse in 2020. The young artist had gone there for the sole purpose of having sex with Wendy Devera, Stephan Probst’s partner. She had no interest in him and repeatedly refused his advances throughout the evening.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Stephan Probst and his partner Wendy Devera
However, Victoria was unknowingly drugged with MDMA (ecstasy) that evening. According to her version, it was Stephan Probst who had prepared her only drink of the evening. During the evening, while Victoria was having consensual sex with Wendy Devera, Stephan Probst penetrated the victim without her consent. His accomplice then held the victim firmly.
Myths and stereotypes, according to the judge
At trial, Stephan Probst said the victim’s “moans” at his touch amounted to consent. He said he remembered that night very well. But in the same breath, he bragged about having had 40 threesomes with other women and many other sexual encounters with women.
Judge Suzanne Costom rejected his version and concluded that he had shown “wilful blindness” by kissing the victim in the spa and penetrating her in bed.
” [Son] testimony clearly illustrates his ignorance of the rules of consent as well as his indifference to the desires of [Victoria] ” she remembered.
At trial, Stephan Probst explained that he bought “crystalline MDMA powder” himself and carefully calibrated it to offer to his guests. He did not specify in his testimony how he obtained such an illegal substance.
The defence argued that Victoria had made up the whole sexual assault story because she regretted cheating on her partner. Such arguments are based on “myths and stereotypes”, Judge Costom ruled.
“There is nothing surprising or suspicious about a victim of sexual assault being reluctant to call the police. The fact that a victim who has done nothing wrong nevertheless feels guilty after being sexually assaulted is also a sad reality that has long been recognized,” she explained.
Judge Costom concluded that Victoria’s testimony was “honest and reliable” despite its “imperfections”.