Seattle physical therapist exonerated in sexual abuse cases

A year after a Seattle physical therapist was criminally charged with sexually touching two female patients, fired from his job and put on a restrictive license, all charges have been dropped.

Last March, Michael James Shannon, a physical therapist at Swedish Medical Center, was charged with two counts of indecent liberties, after two female patients said he had touched a breast during therapy. The complaints came within weeks of one another in 2009.

The complaints led Swedish to fire Shannon, who had been a physical therapist for eight years. The Department of Health also restricted him from treating female patients, but let keep his license.

By December of last year, the prosecutors' charges were dismissed. On Thursday, the Department of Health announced that it, too, had dropped its administrative case against Shannon and had lifted the restriction on his license.

"This is the weakest, most unfounded charge I've ever seen, and the prosecutors did the right thing," Shannon's lawyer, Richard Hansen, said Thursday.

'It was a horrible strain on (Shannon). Anybody who's wrongly accused, it's very traumatic."

Breast touching was 'medically necessary'

Both the women had seen Shannon for treatment after spinal surgery. The first woman had also fallen and pulled rib muscles on one side, prompting Shannon to treat both her rib and pectoral muscles.

The woman said Shannon slid his hand under her bra strap and touched her breast, while "making odd conversation regarding bike riding with a friend and ending up in an area of prostitutes," according to a court motion to dismiss the charges.

An avid bicyclist, Shannon, 39, denied any discussion about prostitutes, according to the motion.

The second woman reported that Shannon had asked if her "pecs" were tight, then massaged her breast with one hand, while feeling her ribs under her shirt with the other hand. The woman said she didn't understand his actions and felt uncomfortable and vulnerable, court records show.

Swedish fired Shannon after the second complaint, finding he had no reason to be concerned with the patients' pectoral tightness, prosecutors said.

But Hansen, Shannon's lawyer, said his actions had been "medically necessary and appropriate."

"It was perfectly appropriate for Mr. Shannon to be examining and working on the muscles of the back, shoulder and pectorals... No one claims he showed any signs of sexual arousal or made any sexual statements to either complainant," Hansen wrote in court records, noting that Shannon had not touched the women's nipples.

"Quite to the contrary, all of his interaction with these patients was medically necessary and appropriate."

Big caseload blamed

Hansen partially blamed Swedish for what happened. He said his client's caseload had grown, leaving him little time to explain what he was doing. He also said Shannon had wanted a female attendant as a chaperone in the room for his female patients, but none was provided.

Shannon had agreed last year to give up his profession as a physical therapist in Washington, in exchange for the prosecutors' move to dismiss charges. But on Thursday, the Department of Health said that deal was off, and that Shannon is free to reapply for his license. It expired last July.

But Shannon has no plans to do so, his lawyer said. He's moved out of the state, with no plans to return.

"He never wants to come back to Washington," Hansen said.

Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news. Vanessa Ho can be reached at vanessaho@seattlepi.com or 206-448-8003. Follow Vanessa on Twitter at @vanessaho.