Pa. ‘touching therapy’ doc gets prison, labeled sexual predator
A central Pennsylvania psychologist who used “touching therapy” on two female sexual trauma patients will spend three to six years in prison.
State prosecutors say the therapy really amounted to sexual abuse.
Fifty-four-year-old Richard Lenhart, of State College, was sentenced Thursday in Centre County. He previously pleaded no contest to two counts of indecent assault and insurance fraud for billing insurance companies more than $71,000 for the treatments, which were later determined not to be legitimate.
Lenhart’s defense attorney didn’t immediately comment Friday.
The judge also ruled Lenhart was a sexually violent predator who must register his address with the state police once he gets out of prison.
The state licensing board found Lenhart was “re-traumatizing them in his role as psychologist” and grooming them for future sexual abuse.
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