Canada News

Get the latest new in Candada

Winnipeg

Former Manitoba doctor sentenced to 12 years for sexually assaulting patients

Former family doctor Arcel Bissonnette has been sentenced to 12 years for sexually assaulting seven women during medical appointments and examinations in Ste. Anne, Man.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond delivered the sentence on Thursday morning in Winnipeg, saying Bissonnette was in a position of authority over his victims and breached that trust, which warranted the longer sentence.

The defence had been seeking a nine-year sentence, while Crown prosecutors argued for 18 years.

Speaking to reporters after the sentencing, prosecutor Renée Lagimodière commended the victims for showing courage in going to police.

All patients need to be better informed about what types of examinations are medically necessary, she said.

Bissonnette, 64, worked as a doctor at the hospital and a medical centre in the small town, about 40 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg.

He was tried and convicted in November 2023 of sexually assaulting five patients during medical appointments from 2001-17.

In February, just days before his trial was to begin in connection with other charges, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two other women, in 2005 and 2011.

Manitoba Court of King’s Bench heard victim impact statements from some of the women at a sentencing hearing at the end of June.

In arguing for the shorter sentence, the defence said Bissonnette was a low risk to reoffend because he no longer holds a medical licence.

He hasn’t practised medicine since November 2020, when the initial charges were laid.

View original article here Source