Doctor reenacts woman’s rape to ‘heal’ her, Florida cops say. He’s charged

A doctor told a former patient they needed to have an “intimate relationship” if he was to heal her, then he sexually assaulted her, Florida authorities said.

Stephen Feig, a 66-year-old licensed osteopathic physician, is now charged with sexual battery, and investigators believe there could be more victims, the Sarasota Police Department shared April 18.

Feig’s attorney, Mark Zimmerman, told McClatchy News that the woman was Feig’s ex-patient.

“They had personal relationship far more involved than the police report lets on,” Zimmerman said. “The report makes it sound like they terminated the doctor-patient relationship so he could treat her outside the office.”

At the time, Feig was the medical director of the Brain Wave Center, which said in a statement that Feig has since been terminated.

“The Brain Wave Center has always been guided by principles of integrity, compassion and care,” the center said. “While the legal process takes its course, our leadership team is focused on reinforcing those values through clear communication, staff support and ongoing review of our safety and oversight protocols.”

In 2023, Feig began seeing a 21-year-old patient for issues including sexual trauma, chronic pain and mood disorders, WFLA reported.

The woman told police that during her first appointment, Feig had her look into his eyes and repeat that she was safe, and Dr. Feig wouldn’t hurt her, police wrote in an arrest affidavit.

She said Feig told her he wouldn’t be able to fully treat her at the Brain Wave Center and they needed to have sessions outside the office, police said.

The woman said she questioned his methods, but she told investigators she came to the center “as her last hope,” so she went along with it, officers said.

She estimated she and Feig met more than a dozen times outside the Sarasota medical office, including at his apartment, over the next six months, according to the affidavit and reporting from WFTS.

The woman told officers Feig told her to sign a form at the office saying he was no longer her doctor, according to the report.

Many of the meetings described by the woman involved physical contact between the two, with Feig saying it would help her heal, police wrote in the report.

One day at Feig’s apartment, the woman told police that Feig said they needed to reenact her rape to “help her reclaim her power,” according to police.

Afterward, he told her she was close to being fully healed, she recalled to officers. At her final meeting with him, she said he made inappropriate sexual contact, and she told him she didn’t want to continue seeing him, police said.

In March, she reported Feig to law enforcement, who recorded a phone conversation between the two of them in which officers said Feig acknowledged they had reenacted her previous sexual assault.

Feig was arrested, but it wasn’t the first time he had been accused him of misconduct.

Court records show Feig has a pending battery case against him after a patient reported that he had her undress and touched her inappropriately during an exam, police said.

The investigation is ongoing.