Jailed Interior Health top doctor loses licence in BC

Disgraced Interior Health doctor Albert de Villiers has been stripped of his licence, almost two years after he was jailed for sexually molesting the young son of family friends.

According to a May 20 public notification from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, de Villiers was forced to surrender his licence and never apply again in BC or any other jurisdiction.

In June 2023, de Villiers was jailed for five-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting a boy who was between seven and nine years old at the time.

The sexual abuse took place between 2018 and 2020 when de Villiers was living in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and working as the chief medical health officer of Alberta Health’s North Zone.

He moved to Kelowna soon afterwards and took the second-highest-paid job at Interior Health, making roughly $350,000 a year.

The court found that de Villiers had shown pornography to the young victim, who had considered him an uncle. He groomed and then sexually abused the child between five and eight times.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta stripped de Villiers of his licence in that province in July 2024.

However, de Villiers argued to the Alberta College that losing his licence would be especially hard, and he should get a lengthy suspension instead.

de Villiers submitted letters of support and said he was a “very active, respected member” of the community.

“(de Villiers) still has 10 to 15 productive years as a physician and society should not be robbed of his expertise,” his lawyer argued according to a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta decision.

His lawyer said he should be suspended for four and a half years, and pay 50% of the cost of the College’s investigation.

However, the Alberta College said he had sexually exploited a vulnerable child and stripped him of his licence. He’ll also have to pay 100% of the cost of the investigation.