Former Manitoba doctor sentenced to 12 years for sexually assaulting patients

A former family doctor 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 for Arcel Bissonnette on Thursday morning in Winnipeg.

“Dr. Bissonnette took advantage of the opportunity that was afforded to him by his position as a family doctor to sexually assault the victims” in his medical clinic, Bond said.

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

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.

But Bond said Bissonnette was in a position of authority over his victims and breached that trust. That, and the fact the court now has a better understanding of the long-term negative impacts of sexual assault, warranted the longer sentence, she said.

As well, “Dr. Bissonnette has shown no insight into the harmfulness of his conduct, and has expressed no remorse for his conduct,” Bond said, although he has said he would be willing to participate in counselling. 

“With counselling and therapy, Dr. Bissonnette may well come to recognize that his conduct was criminal and that he caused significant pain, suffering and ongoing harm to his victims,” said Bond.

She also noted that if sentenced for each count of sexual assault individually, Bissonnette would have served a total of 32 years in prison — a sentence the judge said would have been “crushing.” 

Bissonnette showed little expression as he sat in the courtroom’s gallery while Bond read her sentencing decision.

Speaking to reporters after the sentencing, prosecutor Renée Lagimodière said the sentence Bond handed down was higher than what the court has historically imposed for similar offences.

“I think that’s reflective of the criminal justice system responding and appreciating the harm that is caused by these offences,” Lagimodiere said.

The victims showed courage in going to police, she said.

“The doctor-patient relationship is based on trust. Mr. Bissonnette was able to sexually assault these women because many of them did not know what the exams entailed, or they did not feel comfortable speaking up, or they trusted that what he was doing was medically necessary,” she said.

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

‘I believed it was a safe place’

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.

Five of the women were long-time, regular patients of Bissonnette’s. Three of them were assaulted on multiple occasions at repeated appointments, Lagimodiere said.

During a sentencing hearing in June, the court heard victim impact statements from some of the women Bissonnette assaulted.

“Despite my discomfort and vulnerability, I believed it was a safe place. It should have been a safe place,” one woman told the court at that point.

“Instead, I discovered that a doctor’s exam room can be a place where a professional abuses his power over me.”

In addition to the prison sentence, Bissonnette is required to submit a DNA sample.

Crown prosecutors had also asked for a lifetime sex offender registration, but Bond set the term at 20 years, citing an assessment that found Bissonnette had a low likelihood of reoffending.