Manitoba doctor convicted of sexually assaulting patients sentenced to 12 years behind bars

A doctor who was found guilty of sexually assaulting some of his patients over several years was sentenced in a Manitoba court on Thursday.

Arcel Bissonnette was sentenced to 12 years in prison by Justice Sadie Bond in the Manitoba Court of King's Bench. He was found guilty of five charges of sexual assault following a trial last year.

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The assaults took place between 2001 and 2017 when Bissonnette was working as a family doctor at the Ste. Anne Hospital and the Seine Medical Centre.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say you have scarred your victims perhaps for life,” Bond said.

Bissonnette was originally charged with 22 offences in 2020, but all but seven charges were stayed. He pleaded guilty to two other counts of sexual assault.

Bissonnette has since lost his medical licence.

"Following Dr. Bissonnette’s conviction of sexually assaulting five women, CPSM cancelled his licence to practice medicine on January 17, 2024," The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba  said in a statement.
"He has not practised medicine since CPSM became aware of his criminal charges in 2020."

"We sincerely hope that the sentence provides some closure and justice to the victim-survivors who courageously came forward and reported these incidents."

Crown Prosecutor Renee Lagimodiere said the conviction raises the importance of education regarding women's health.

"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. "Mr. Bissonnette breached that trust in the most egregious of ways."

-With files from CTV's Danton Unger