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| Dr. Matthew Lieber |
There was nothing unusual about her massage appointment on that May afternoon — until she felt her chiropractor’s fingers inappropriately touch her, a 70-year-old woman testified Wednesday.
“I was thinking, I can’t believe this is happening,” said the woman, who was the lone witness in a preliminary hearing for Dr. Matthew Lieber, 47, of Yardley, who is charged with felony and misdemeanor aggravated indecent assault.
Following an hour-long hearing, Morrisville District Judge Michael Burns held Lieber for trial in Bucks County Court in Doylestown on both charges.
The woman reported Lieber to police a few days after her May 17 appointment with him at the Yardley Chiropractic and Massage Center on Main Street in the borough. Bucks County detectives investigated.
The woman testified that she was stunned when Lieber inappropriately touched her during the hour-long session.
The woman said that she had been a patient of Lieber’s for a couple of years and regularly scheduled therapeutic massages with him to treat medical conditions such as arthritis and migraine headaches.
She said he never touched her inappropriately before that day.
The woman told the court that her 4:30 p.m. appointment for a full-body massage was going as usual until she felt Lieber’s fingers in her genital area.
“I looked straight at him and said, ‘I need you to stop what you’re doing,’” she said.
Lieber’s response was surprising, she testified.
“You have to know I’ve always been attracted to you,” the woman testified Lieber told her. “You’re a very beautiful woman and very sweet.”
The woman said that she ended the massage and did not respond to what Lieber said.
Under cross examination by Lieber’s attorney, Sara Webster, the woman said that she paid Lieber for the session, let him kiss her on the cheek and hug her and made another appointment, which she didn’t keep.
Webster asked the woman to recall if she regularly exchanged hugs, kisses or handshakes with Lieber, but prosecutor Nate Spang objected — calling the questions irrelevant — and Burns did not allow the question.
Webster asked the woman if Lieber had given her previous indication that he was attracted to her.
“Have you ever talked about dating?” Webster said.
“Each other?” the woman replied, sounding surprised.
Generally, Webster answered.
“No,” the woman replied.
Records show that Lieber has been a licensed chiropractor in the state since 1995, and recently renewed his license. No disciplinary action has been taken against him, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. He remains free on $150,000 unsecured bail.
After the hearing, Webster said her client has a “stellar” reputation in the community.
“He was absolutely shocked she made this allegation that anything was improper,” Webster said. “Absolutely everyone is in support of him. He has a stellar character.”
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