An Alberta dentist going through legal sexual assault fees has obtained a partial reprieve from the province’s high court docket, which discovered his skilled school acted “unreasonably harsh” when it cancelled his apply allow, the Edmonton Journal reported.
Dr. Shouresh Charkhandeh, 43, was charged in 2024 with 4 counts of sexual assault and one rely of threatening to trigger bodily hurt whereas committing a sexual assault, stemming from alleged incidents involving a clinic employees member between January 2012 and Might 2013. The fees haven’t been confirmed in court docket.
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In a separate disciplinary course of, the Faculty of Dental Surgeons of Alberta discovered Charkhandeh responsible of unprofessional conduct in September 2022 based mostly on 5 cases of non‑consensual sexual acts alleged to have occurred between November 2012 and February 2013. The school cancelled his apply allow, imposed a $50,000 high quality and ordered him to pay 75 per cent of investigation and listening to prices, with an enchantment panel later including 75 per cent of enchantment prices.
On July 16, 2025, the Alberta Court docket of Attraction upheld the findings of unprofessional conduct however lowered the penalty to a 3‑12 months suspension, cancelled the $50,000 high quality, and lowered Charkhandeh’s whole prices to $60,000. A 5‑justice panel stated the school our bodies put an excessive amount of weight on denunciation and too little on components such because the absence of an ongoing danger and prospects for rehabilitation.
The Edmonton Journal reported the five-justice panel as writing:
“In ordering expulsion, the listening to tribunal and the enchantment panel overemphasized denunciation of the appellant’s conduct, and didn’t take enough account of his prior historical past of unblemished apply … [and] the absence of measurable danger to the general public.”
