Adelaide court lifts suppression order on identity of chiropractor Peter Snodgrass, who secretly filmed patients undressing

AN Adelaide chiropractor and self-confessed sex addict who admits secretly filming hundreds of clients — including women and children — while they were getting undressed at his practice can now be identified for the first time.

Chiropractor Peter Snodgrass concealed a hidden camera in the changeroom of his Rostrevor practice, and also filmed some patients with a handheld camera while he massaged them.

AN Adelaide chiropractor who admits secretly filming hundreds of clients — including women and children — while they were getting undressed at his practice can now be identified for the first time.

On Friday, District Court Judge Paul Muscat lifted a long-running suppression order on the identity of Peter Snodgrass, 50, who claims on his Linked In profile to have been president of the World Chiropractic Alliance.

He has pleaded guilty to more than 200 charges stemming from the secret filming of clients, as well as the indecent assault of some others, at his Rostrevor practice.

The court was also told that the Director of Public Prosecutions is considering whether the case should be sent to the Supreme Court given Snodgrass may be “incapable of controlling his sexual instincts”.

A decision about whether the case will stay in the District Court or go to the Supreme Court will be made in June, once Snodgrass has been seen by a forensic psychologist.

The media fought for the suppression order on Snodgrass’s identity to be lifted when he was committed from the Adelaide Magistrates Court to the District Court last December.

But Magistrate Paul Foley allowed the gag order to stand.

Under state law, there is an automatic suppression for a defendant charged with a sex offence until they are committed to a higher court.

Peter Snodgrass told investigators his offending involved more than 400 victims.

It will be alleged Snodgrass had been secretly filming people at his practice from 2012 until last year.

He set up a fixed camera to film women in the changeroom but on two occasions used a handheld camera to film clients as he massaged them.

Late last year, prosecutors said police had found four more victims, bringing the number of charges to 216.

On Friday, Judge Muscat was told one more victim had come forward.

He kept a suppression order in place on the identity of the indecent filming victims, who are not covered by statutory suppressions.

During a failed bail application last year, the Adelaide Magistrates Court was told that Snodgrass had made “certain admissions” to the offending, as well as identifying himself as a sex addict.

“He described it (the offending) as a sex addiction,” she said.

“He says it has been going on for four years ... there were more than 400 individuals — more than has been determined by the prosecution at this particular time.”

One of Snodgrass’s victims told The Advertiser his crimes had a devastating impact on her entire family. Her mother and sister were also victims of Snodgrass’s offending.

“It has turned my sister’s life upside down, my mother’s life upside down. It has impacted just about everything in our life,” she said.

“At first we didn’t believe it because we had been going there for well over 10 years until we were contacted (by police) and then it became a reality.

“It’s absolutely disgusting and now to trust people in the future makes it very hard. He deserves to never practice again (and) his name needs to be out there so people know and he can’t do this again.”