New assault charge filed against Delco chiropractor
SPRINGFIELD » A second woman has come forward with indecent assault allegations against a chiropractor arrested earlier this month for allegedly groping a patient during an examination.
Ardel Cirio, 61, of the 600 block of Cambridge Road, was initially charged March 17 with one count of indecent assault without the consent of another, a misdemeanor of the second degree. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Kelly A. Micozzie-Aguirre, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured, according to online court records.
Cirio now faces another charge of indecent assault without the consent of another, according to a March 22 affidavit of probable cause for his arrest written by Detective Sgt. John Newell of the Newtown Police Department.
Monday’s complaint says the alleged victim came to the Newtown Police Department March 18 to report a sexual assault. She said Cirio had been treating her for the last 22 years at his practice at 17 Bishop Hollow Road, Suite A, in Newtown Township.
In visits beginning July 2020, however, she said she started to become uncomfortable and that Cirio had slowly been moving his hands under her shirt and bra, “brushing” her breasts with his hands.
The alleged victim said she was unsure if these touches were related to her treatment and began searching terms like “groping” and “inappropriate touching” along with what a normal chiropractic exam consists of, according to the complaint. Newell indicated the alleged victim showed him these searches on her Google account, which are dated between July and October of 2020.
Beginning in September 2020, the alleged victim said Cirio began to lift her shirt and bra “completely up” and would use oils to massage her breasts. She said he had not done this in the prior 22 years she had visited him, according to the affidavit.
The alleged victim also said Cirio began having her lie down on her back with her arms above her head after lifting her shirt and bra off, the affidavit says. During this portion of the exam, Cirio allegedly pushed the woman’s head away from the side of her body where he was kneeling next to her. Though she could not see what he was doing, she reported feeling his other hand on her breasts, as well as what she described as someone “softly kissing or licking her breasts,” according to the affidavit.
The allegations are similar to those in the original complaint. In that case, a patient of Cirio’s for three years said she also began feeling uncomfortable in recent visits and that Cirio had been gradually moving his hands closer to her breasts with each examination, culminating in his going under her bra and feeling both breasts while conducting a shoulder adjustment March 8.
Cirio is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 5 before Magisterial District Judge Leon Hunter. Defense attorney Art Donato previously declined commenting on the case.