Former Great Falls chiropractor charged with rape

GREAT FALLS (AP) — A former Great Falls chiropractor who lost his state license after regulators accused him of inappropriately touching employees during treatments he required them to receive as part of their employment has been charged with raping one of those workers.

Reese Riggin, 48, pleaded not guilty in District Court on Thursday to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. He had previously been released on a $100,000 bond. A February 2015 trial date was set, court officials said.

Riggin’s attorney, Meghan Sutton, did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The state Board of Chiropractors revoked Riggin’s license in August after saying that it found he inappropriately touched two female employees. He cannot reapply for a license in Montana for 10 years.

Riggin did not appeal the board’s decision, Montana Department of Labor and Industry attorney Kevin Maki said Monday.

Prosecutors filed the rape charge based on complaints by an employee who worked for Riggin from March 2009 to September 2010, but they could not pursue a sexual assault charge alleged by another employee because the statute of limitations had expired.

Riggin’s chiropractic license was revoked in Idaho in 1997 after similar accusations there. He pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation by a medical care provider and was sentenced to 10 days in jail.

The sexual exploitation charge was dismissed in 2006 after Riggin completed the terms of his probation. However, Idaho denied his application to reinstate his license, saying it did not have enough evidence to prove that he had been rehabilitated.

Montana’s board denied Riggin a license in 2007 but issued a probationary license in February 2008. It required he be supervised for at least a year and have another person in the room when he was examining or administering chiropractic treatment to female patients.