WINNIPEG — A Manitoba doctor who sexually assaulted seven female patients took advantage of their trust and should be handed an 18-year prison term, a Crown attorney told court Thursday.
"The offender was in a position of trust and authority," Renee Lagimodiere said at the sentencing hearing for Arcel Bissonnette.
"He breached his position in the most egregious of ways."
Bissonnette, 64, was convicted last year of sexually assaulting five patients and pleaded guilty earlier this year to the sex assaults of two others.
Court heard the assaults happened during physical exams Bissonnette conducted over a 20-year period in Ste. Anne southeast of Winnipeg.
Bissonnette touched the patients sexually without a medical need to do so, the Crown said.
Some victims, whose names are protected under a publication ban, told the hearing the assaults left them with long-term anxiety and fear. Some talked of depression and having undergone counselling.
"How can I ever trust another doctor again?" one woman said in her victim impact statement.
"I should have felt respected, but I felt violated," said another woman, adding she froze in a panic when she later came across Bissonnette while shopping.
"I believe that Dr. Bissonnette could sense my weakness and took advantage of that," said another woman in a written statement that was read into the court record.
"I will forever be impacted by what he did to me."
The defence is seeking a nine-year sentence, saying Bissonnette has lost his medical licence, has abided by bail conditions and has good prospects for rehabilitation.
Bissonette has not worked since his arrest in 2020. He was later stripped of his medical licence by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba.
His defence team told court Bissonnette has already been punished partially by losing his job and dealing with the stigma associated with his offences, which have received extensive media coverage.
They also said he is a low risk to reoffend, has no prior criminal record and is of relatively advanced age.
"A sentence of 18 years would potentially have him at 80 when he is released," said lawyer Lisa LaBossiere.
Court of King's Bench Justice Sadie Bond said she planned to deliver her sentencing decision on Aug. 29.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2024.
Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
