Dr. Christopher Thaemert, a St. Paul chiropractor, was convicted Friday of sexually touching a 20-year-old female employee without her consent.
Thaemert, 43, of Hugo, showed little emotion as the verdict was read by Ramsey County District Judge William H. Leary, and he kept his eyes on the six-member jury as each one was polled.
Leary set sentencing for March 12. The maximum sentence for the gross-misdemeanor charge is a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
The incident happened July 10 at Thaemert's office on St. Paul's East Side. The victim had worked for him at Phalen Chiropractic for three years, since she was 17. Her aunt has worked for him for 12 years.
That afternoon, Thaemert and the victim were the only ones there. After lunch, he asked her if she wanted a massage. She said she'd never had one before and accepted his offer.
She left on her bra and underwear, put on a gown and lay face-down on a massage table. At first, the massage was fine, but the woman said she "froze" when he sat between her legs to massage her calf and thigh and repeatedly ran his hand over her private parts. He also kissed her up and down her leg, she said.
"I asked him what he was doing," the woman testified Wednesday as she quietly cried. He told her, "Anybody who sees [you], wants a piece of [you]," the woman said.
The woman said she didn't confront Thaemert any further. The massage ended when he asked if she wanted to turn over so he could massage her front. She told him, no, she just wanted to rest. When another female employee came to work at 3 p.m., the woman said she told her that Thaemert had touched and kissed her. She continued to work until 6 p.m., then went home and never returned. The woman called police at 1:50 a.m. the next day to report the incident.
