‘I felt just dirty, violated’

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This article was published 05/05/2023 (1122 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba woman says she “wrote off” unsettling examinations by her family doctor as the product of “old school” medical procedures before she realized what he was doing wasn’t right.

“After the last exam I was mad, because I knew it was wrong,” the woman testified Friday at the trial of Dr. Arcel Bissonnette.

She is the fourth of five women prosecutors allege Bissonnette sexually assaulted during examinations at the Ste. Anne Hospital and Seine Medical Centre.

The woman in court Friday testified about three examinations during which she alleged Bissonnette inserted a speculum into her rectum without advance warning or her consent.

“I felt just dirty, violated,” the woman said. “Deep down I knew it wasn’t right, especially him not telling me anything.”

The woman said she first went to Bissonnette in 2011 or 2012 for a referral for the treatment of hemorrhoids.

She said she was naked on an examining table as Bissonnette positioned her “on all fours” and told her he wanted to examine her rectum. Then, without telling her what he was going to do, he inserted a speculum in her anus and opened it, she alleged.

“He was a very quiet guy, he never explained what he was doing,” she said.

“I was shocked, especially when he opened (the speculum).”

The woman next visited Bissonnette in March 2013 for a physical. She said after examining her breasts, abdomen and vagina, Bissonnette again positioned her on her hands and knees, applied lubricant to her anus and inserted a speculum.

“I felt shocked and a little violated,” she said. “I didn’t know if that was routine… He never explained it.”

Under cross examination, defence lawyer Josh Weinstein suggested Bissonnette verbally told her how to position herself and told her he was going to examine her rectum with an anoscope.

“He might have said ‘all fours’ and guided me all the way down,” the woman said.

She said she initially “wrote off” her first two visits with Bissonnette, thinking he was using outdated “old school” medical procedures.

The woman next went to Bissonnete about two years later when she needed a pap test.

“I made the appointment and said I just needed a pap test, I didn’t want that (rectal examination) again,” she testified.

Again, Bissonnette examined her breasts, vagina and rectum, in the same manner he had before, the woman alleged.

“I was by this point mad. I knew by this point it was wrong,” but did not say anything to Bissonnette, the woman said.

“I was frozen,” she said. “I didn’t want to question him.”

The woman said she was on her hands and knees as Bissonnette examined her and she glanced behind her.

“I think he had an erection,” she said.

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Under cross-examination, she agreed she told police what she thought was an erection may have just been the way the zipper of Bissonnette’s pants was sitting or ‘tenting.’

The woman admitted early in her testimony she mixed up the dates of specific examinations in her police statement and earlier discussions with prosecutors, a point on which Weinstein focused a large portion of his cross-examination.

Two other women testified earlier in the week to seeing Bissonnette with an erection following their examinations.

The trial resumes Monday.

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.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.