Convicted chiropractor back to work in Campbell

CAMPBELL, Calif. (KTVU) - Four months after a South Bay chiropractor was convicted of felony sexual battery, the 49 year old was back at work Tuesday morning seeing patients at his Good Life Chiropractic office in a strip mall office off Hamilton Avenue in Campbell.

“Obviously there's concerns about putting a person, regardless of who it is, back into a position where they found themselves when they committed the crime,” said Campbell Police Captain Gary Berg.

Manfred Alkhas was arrested on sexual battery charges in 2013 and a jury last year found him guilty of inappropriately touching a 21-year-old woman during an office visit.  They did not convict him of a more serious charge of sexual penetration.

Despite his conviction, several patients Tuesday expressed their “love" for the chiropractor who has several recently posted 5-star reviews on Yelp.

KTVU searched the state chiropractic licensing records and found Alkhas still has an active license which allows him to keep practicing.

His attorney, Daniel Horowitz, says they are appealing the conviction and requesting Alkhas still keep his license during the appeal, however with supervision and agreeing to not see patients in a private room.

“The worst thing is to take away a man's livelihood when his case is still on appeal because we have an appellate process for a reason,” said Horowitz.

Alkhas was sentenced in July 2016 to 2 years in prison but he was released early because of credit for time already served.

When KTVU called the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners Tuesday afternoon, spokesperson Veronica Harms said Alkhas has the right to due process and because of the ongoing investigation he would legally be allowed to practice for at least another month until the board made a decision whether to suspend, restrict, or revoke his license.

But a short time later, Harms was able to obtain more information about the Alkhas case and said based on an update from last month, the board is seeking to revoke his license.

She noted a search of Alkhas’ name on their website will show an accusation was filed last month, although the weblink did not appear to work to provide details about what the disciplinary action was against Alkhas.
Harms went on to say the board is seeking to revoke Alkhas’ license to practice chiropractic care and that the agency Tuesday was not aware he had resumed seeing patients.

“We were not entirely aware of that at the time, now we are able to move forward and include that with our investigation,” said Harms.　

The state board says a temporary suspension of Alkhas’ chiropractic license expired when he completed his sentence and the agency thought his sentence would last longer.

Someone with the district attorney's sex crimes division questioned why state overseers didn't act quicker to keep the chiropractor from practicing after his conviction last October and subsequent sentencing in July.

In the meantime, Alkhas can still legally practice until the board takes further action.

His attorney hopes to overturn the conviction and says the next court hearing is set for December.