A London, Ont., psychiatrist was stripped of her licence Monday for sexual abuse after a discipline panel found she had repeated sexual encounters with a patient.

Dr. Karin Kerfoot did not attend the hearing before a five-member panel at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, where she was represented by two lawyers. A plea of no contest was entered on her behalf, meaning she doesn’t admit guilt but does not contest the facts and accepts that the panel can find them correct.

Sex between a patient and a health care professional is prohibited under Ontario law, and requires the mandatory revocation of the professional’s licence.

The sexual encounters happened at various motels over the course of a year and a half, while the patient — whose name is covered by a standard publication ban — was in and out of the London hospital’s inpatient adult mental health care program, according to a statement of uncontested facts filed at the hearing.

The patient was dealing with a number of mental health issues, including depression, alcohol abuse and an eating disorder. Kerfoot was his attending psychiatrist.

Receipts were entered into evidence at the hearing, showing Kerfoot paid for the motel rooms, sometimes in cash, sometimes with her credit card. The pair also travelled to Toronto on one occasion and stayed in a hotel, the panel was told.

They also communicated through WhatsApp using plenty of heart, flower and kiss emojis, where the patient would refer to the doctor as “my love,” “my dear girl,” “my lovely muse” and “babydoll” while also discussing issues like his medication.

“Dr. Kerfoot engaged in a lengthy sexual affair with a vulnerable psychiatric patient,” college prosecutor Morgana Kellythorne told the panel.

She highlighted that maintaining proper boundaries is crucial in a physician-patient relationship, and even more so when the physician is a psychiatrist.

“Dr. Kerfoot failed miserably in this regard,” Kellythorne said.

The patient said in his victim impact statement that he no longer trusts the psychiatric profession as a result of Kerfoot’s conduct.

“I was in love with a woman whom I trusted and very much admired,” said the patient, who read his statement to the panel. “Dr. Kerfoot took advantage of me in a fragile state.”

The panel also found Kerfoot guilty of failing to cooperate and/or being dishonest with the college during its investigation. She had initially denied the existence of a sexual relationship to the hospital and the college, according to the statement of uncontested facts.

In a statement to the Star, Kerfoot said she made the “heart-wrenching” decision two weeks ago not to mount a defence to the college allegations at the hearing. She said she intends to share the reasons why when she is ready.

A physician whose licence has been revoked for sexual abuse can reapply in five years, though there is no guarantee they will get it back. Kerfoot has been suspended since September 2017 and her lawyer, Dara Lambe, argued that her revocation should be backdated to that time, so that she would be eligible to reapply in about three years instead of five.

The college prosecution objected.

“There is no reason to reward Dr. Kerfoot’s abhorrent conduct by trying to find a way around the provisions” in the legislation, Kellythorne said.

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Lambe also argued that Kerfoot should not have to post a letter of credit in the amount of $16,000 to cover potential therapy costs for the patient, saying there was no evidence the patient intends to seek therapy in relation to the sexual abuse findings. She also pointed out that Kerfoot has not been able to earn an income since her 2017 suspension.

In a brief decision, the discipline panel rejected the defence’s arguments. They revoked Kerfoot’s licence immediately, ordered her to post a letter of credit for $16,000 for potential therapy costs, and ordered her to pay an additional $10,000 to the college for the costs of Monday’s hearing.