The Crown is recommending a sentence of 18 years in prison for a former Ste. Anne family doctor found guilty of sexually assaulting seven patients during medical exams spanning more than 20 years.
A sentencing hearing was underway Thursday morning for Arcel Bissonnette, 64.
He was found guilty of sexually assaulting five patients after a trial last year. He pleaded guilty in February to sexually assaulting two more patients in 2005 and 2011.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Dr. Arcel Bissonnette arrives at the law courts in May 2023.
Bissonnette admitted his actions in those two cases were without each woman’s consent and violated their “sexual integrity,” but said they were not committed for his own sexual gratification.
Bissonnette “was in a position of trust, and he breached that trust in the most egregious of ways,” Crown prosecutor Renee Lagimodiere said.
Lagimodiere told court the appropriate sentences for each victim, if applied consecutively, would total 42 years, but recommended a total reduced sentence of 18 years.
“My vulnerability was taken advantage of,” one woman said in a victim impact statement provided to court. “His assaults took away my confidence, my privacy and my ability to speak up for myself.”
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
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