Two years after being sentenced for a conviction of sexual interference of a child, the former chief medical officer of Interior Health, Albert Stefanus De Villiers has surrendered his licence with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
By surrendering his license to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., De Villiers will no longer be able to practice medicine in the province. The college's disciplinary action, which was posted publicly on May 20, is in addition to resigning and surrendering his license, effective March 1, 2023.
De Villiers also agreed to not reapply to another jurisdiction in order to practise medicine.
Before moving to Kelowna to assume his role with Interior Health, De Villiers was the lead medical health officer for Alberta’s Northern Zone, which is when the incidents of sexual interference involving a child are alleged to have occurred.
He was initially charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference with a minor, but the charge of sexual assault was stayed as it was deemed to be too similar to the charge of sexual interference.
On February 7, 2023, De Villiers was found guilty by the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta of sexual interference and in June of that year he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.
De Villiers had befriended the family of his underage victim while he was working as the lead medical health officer in northern Alberta, between 2017 and 2020. Several incidents are believed to have occurred during that time.
It was only after de Villiers moved to Kelowna, to work as the chief medical officer of Interior Health, that the child reported the abuse to their parents.
Two other charges were also raised against De Villiers, but were ultimately withdrawn and instead, the presiding judge added a $2,000 peace bond, as well as a lifetime no-contact order with the alleged victim.
"De Villiers’s conduct was egregious," said B.C. College of Physician and Surgeon's Inquiry Committee in its May 2 disciplinary decision to bar the former doctor from practicing medicine.
