News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Dr. Clifford Henshaw is pictured on Tuesday in the 89th District Court in Rogers City. Henshaw had a preliminary examination Tuesday for three charges of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC).

ROGERS CITY — Dr. Clifford Henshaw of Henshaw Chiropractic was bound over to the 53rd Circuit Court on two fourth degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) charges Tuesday in the 89th District Court.

Henshaw was arrested on Dec. 19 according to a Dec. 22 press release from the Rogers City Police Department after a female reported in November that she was the alleged victim of inappropriate contact during a chiropractic appointment with Henshaw. He was charged with three counts of fourth degree CSC.

The News does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

Prompted by questions by Presque Isle County Prosecuting Attorney Zakary McLennan, the alleged victim described what happened at her appointment on Nov. 18 with Henshaw.

The alleged victim said this was her first appointment with Henshaw, but that she has been seeing a chiropractor for 30 years through a different office. She testified that she has been to more than 100 chiropractic appointments.

The alleged victim said she scheduled an appointment with Henshaw because she was looking for a local chiropractor, as the one she currently sees is outside of Presque Isle County.

At the appointment with Henshaw, the alleged victim was asked to lay down on her stomach on what she described as a “normal” chiropractic table. Henshaw had her move as far to the right as possible on the table. Her arms were at her sides.

As Henshaw worked on her back, the alleged victim said she felt Henshaw rub his genitals through his clothing up and down her arm for about a minute. She tried to fold her arm in as far as she could, but he continued doing it, and then he finally said, “Oh, sorry.”

When she was asked whether she noticed if the defendant was sexually aroused, she said she could not see at that moment but saw later on that he was sexually aroused when the appointment was nearly over and she was sitting in a chair.

The alleged victim said that to use a massaging tool, Henshaw asked if he could undo her bra strap or if she would do it herself. The alleged victim said she froze and Henshaw pulled her shirt up and undid the strap, then pulled the shirt back down. He used the tool then reclasped her bra. The alleged victim said that no other chiropractor had asked for her to do that before.

She testified that Henshaw used an activator tool, which is used to adjust bones, during the appointment. The alleged victim said she is used to that tool being used on her hips, but said that Henshaw used it once on her inner thigh and once on her genital area.

She said no other chiropractor has used the tool that way and she did not consent to him using the device that way.

Henshaw’s Defense Attorney Brian Prain cross examined the witness and asked about discrepancies in her testimony in court and what she had told police during the investigation.

Prain said that during a police interview with Officer Bruce Collins of the Rogers City Police Department, Collins asked her whether the defendant put the activator on her genital area and popped it twice.

“He did one a little bit away from there and then he swung down and hit that, kind of like he was meaning to do that,” the victim responded.

The alleged victim replied that it’s just the way she talks and that Henshaw meant to do that intentionally.

Prain said the statement of ‘kind of like’ expresses doubt about whether Henshaw meant to use the activator on her genital area or not.

Prain asked about the position of her legs during the appointment, and the alleged victim said that she had a block under her hip and her legs were crossed at the ankles.

He also pointed to a discrepancy between what the alleged victim had told Officer Rick Rafferty of the Rogers City Police Department and what she had written in a statement about Henshaw allegedly rubbing his genitals along her arm.

She had told Rafferty that she felt Henshaw being sexually aroused when he was leaning against her arm. In her statement, all she said was that her shirt sleeve was pinched between Henshaw and the table.

The alleged victim clarified in her testimony that she felt him being sexually aroused against her arm and also saw that he was sexually aroused later on. She agreed that she was never touched by him when he was sexually aroused near the end of the appointment while she was in the chair.

When her appointment was completed, the alleged victim paid Henshaw and he told her she would need another appointment. She testified that she did set up the appointment, but had no intention of returning.

The alleged victim received what appeared to be an automated text message confirming her next appointment with Henshaw not long after she left his office. About an hour later, she received another text saying that the appointment was canceled and Henshaw was referring her to her previous chiropractor as he did not believe he was the right chiropractor for her.

Prain said that the alleged victim only made a police report after receiving the cancellation text, which she agreed was the case.

He asked whether it’s true that it does not feel nice to receive a message like that, and she said it didn’t bother her and she was relieved. Prain further asked whether that kind of message can feel insulting, and the alleged victim replied “no.”

In his closing argument, McLennan said that all three counts should be bound over. Count one refers to the incident of the defendant rubbing the alleged victim’s arm with his genitals, and counts two and three refer to the use of the activator tool on the alleged victim’s groin and genital area.

In his closing argument, Prain said that at no point did the alleged victim say she looked and saw Henshaw being sexually aroused while he was leaning against her arm, only that she felt it and assumed.

She also agreed that chiropractors are all over people in her testimony, Prain said.

Prain added that the claim about feeling Henshaw’s genitals on the alleged victim’s arm was made to Rafferty, but is only in the police report and there is no evidence that she made that statement through body cam footage.

“If they can’t show that, if the alleged erection was not during that time, they can’t ask for a bind over because the only other instance where she claimed that he supposedly had an erection was a time when there was no sexual contact,” Prain said.

Prain added that count two could not be bound over because the activator tool is supposed to be used under the buttocks. For count three, he said that other than in her testimony in court, the alleged victim never said specifically where the activator tool was placed other than her genital area and that is not indicative of sexual contact.

Judge Michael Ekdahl bound Henshaw over to Circuit Court on two of the three charges of fourth degree CSC.

Ekdahl explained that in count one, the defendant intentionally touched or made, permitted, or caused to touch his genital area to the alleged victim. Later on he appeared sexually aroused, so there is cause to believe there was sexual gratification from the act and from the bigger picture of events that occurred.

Ekdahl combined counts two and three into one count for using the activator on the genital area.

Henshaw will be arraigned at 9 a.m. on May 11 in the 53rd Circuit Court.

Henshaw has one more case, also for fourth degree CSC, that was scheduled for preliminary examination on Tuesday. That hearing was adjourned and moved to 10:30 a.m. on June 2.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.