Doctor testifies on erectile dysfunction at lawyer's trial in defence attempt to cast doubt on allegations

Warning: The content in this story involves alleged sexual assault and the details may be disturbing to some.

Jerome Kennedy presented Dr. Douglas Drover with a series of hypothetical scenarios Tuesday in Supreme Court in St. John's in an effort to determine whether his client could have possibly done what he's accused of doing.

The former health authority chief of staff and urologist took the stand as an expert witness in the trial of Robert Regular, 72, Tuesday.

He was the third witness called by the defence at the trial. Regular, a lawyer and businessman, is accused of sexually assaulting a female four times, beginning when she was 12. He denies the allegations.

Drover said he has no prior connection to Regular but was asked by the defence to review his medical records, X-ray and laboratory test results, and the list of pharmaceuticals that he was prescribed.

Regular first went to his doctor in 2011 and reported that for the last year he had been experiencing a decrease in libido and intermittent erectile dysfunction, the court was told.

From 2011 to 2017, Drover said, records show Regular was prescribed medication to assist with his condition but he said the effectiveness depends on the person and the severity of their erectile dysfunction.

Regular's age and coronary disease are significant factors affecting getting and maintaining an erection, the doctor said.

However, Drover said it was not documented whether Regular's condition was mild, moderate or severe.

Dr. Douglas Drover, former chief of staff at Eastern Health, testified Tuesday at Regular's trial. (CBC)

Kennedy posed the complainant's testimony to Drover for him to assess: the sex was spontaneous, in a law office during work hours.

The doctor said if the patient took medication an hour to two hours before and they had a mild form of the condition, "they could in theory perform."

"It would be a challenge if he had not taken medication, if there was no foreplay, in this environment," Drover said.

The complainant testified last week that she had sexual intercourse with Regular on two separate occasions — 2012 and 2013, respectively — in his law office.

She said the encounter lasted only a couple of minutes and was precipitated by kissing and touching.

The woman, now in her mid-30s, said she was a client at the time of the alleged offences and had sex with Regular in exchange for his legal services. However, she didn't testify that such verbal agreement took place but rather was insinuated based on her previous experience, and that of her mother and sister.

She testified Regular groped her in her mother's vehicle when she was 12 and that he digitally penetrated her five years later.

Regular sanctioned by law society for sex with client

Prosecutor Deidre Badcock questioned Drover's testimony about the importance of a comfortable environment for patients while they have sex.

Drover said an "office is not optimal."

"What about if the person was known to have sex in their office?" Badcock asked.

"If he had taken medication with mild erectile dysfunction it is more possible," he responded.

While not raised as evidence in trial, Regular was sanctioned by the Newfoundland and Labrador Law Society once before for having a sexual relationship with a client.

According to a 2009 appeal decision, Regular was in a long-term consensual relationship with a woman he met in the early 1990s when providing legal services for a peace bond.

The court heard testimony that the two had sex regularly in his law offices and that the relationship lasted more than a decade.

Regular was suspended for 30 days in 2013 and fined $5,000 as a result.

The defence is expected to call more witnesses when the trial resumes on Wednesday.

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