Victim of convicted ex-doctor sues for damages

A woman who was sexually abused by her doctor during an examination lived in fear of him and coped with the psychological damage for 19 years.

It wasn’t until Nov. 6, 2020, when the now 51-year-old woman saw news stories that said Arcel Bissonnette, then a doctor in Ste. Anne, had been charged with sexually assaulting six women that she came forward.

Bissonnette was convicted last year of sexually assaulting seven patients, including her, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. This week, she launched a lawsuit against him in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.

The woman, who the Free Press is not naming, is also suing Centre Medical Seine, the clinic Bissonnette worked at in Ste. Anne, as well as the three doctors who own the clinic, Shared Health, and the Southern Health regional health authority.

She claims she didn’t file the lawsuit earlier because of “the fear, embarrassment and trauma that she suffered.”

“(The woman) has repressed much of the anger and grief resulting from the sexual assault and battery. It was, and continues to be, very painful for her to think or speak about the sexual assault and battery,” court documents say.

The woman is seeking unspecified general damages for pain and suffering, costs for future care, economic losses, and punitive and aggravated damages. She says she suffered post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction and difficulty sleeping. The abuse had a negative impact on family and social relationships, court documents say.

Faron Trippier, the woman’s lawyer, said he would not comment at this time.

Southern Health said in a statement it “is aware of the ongoing legal proceedings and as this matter is before the courts, we are unable to comment on the specifics of his case” while Shared Health said it does not comment on matters before the courts.

No one at the clinic was prepared to comment.

No statements of defence have been filed and the matter has not been heard by a judge.

Bissonnette worked as a practising doctor for 30 years. He was convicted of sexually assaulting five women at the clinic and the Ste. Anne Hospital between 2001 and 2017. He also pleaded guilty, before another judge, to sexually assaulting two other women at the clinic between 2005 and 2011.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say you have scarred your victims, perhaps for life,” Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond said during his sentencing.

“You violated their trust and abused your authority as a doctor. I trust that you will take every opportunity available to you for treatment and counselling.”

The judge noted his victims “demonstrated courage and strength in coming forward … and resolving to take back their lives.”

The women testified the assaults occurred during medical examinations where the doctor would repeatedly insert and remove his fingers from their vaginas, or perform unnecessary breast examinations.

At a 2022 trial that involved six alleged victims, all charges were stayed after it was revealed local police had lost notebooks from its investigation.

In the lawsuit, the woman claims she had an appointment to see Bissonnette on Aug. 3, 2001. She said she was sexually assaulted by the doctor.

“(She) was physically, emotionally and mentally distraught and was afraid of Dr. Bissonnette as a result of the sexual assault,” the claim alleges.

The woman didn’t report the incident to Ste. Anne police until after reading news reports, when “she began to realize the impact of the sexual assault on her mental and emotional health.”

The woman was one of the 16 women Bissonnette was charged with sexually assaulting, but after a number of cases were stayed, she was one of the five women who he was found guilty of sexually assaulting on Nov. 28, 2023.

He was given four years for the sexual assault of this woman, reduced to one and a half years.

The woman claims the clinic and/or the health authority knew, or should have known, that the doctor “was a danger to patients in his care” because there had been other “sexual assault and battery” complaints about his alleged conduct to the clinic, the health authority, police and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba.

Last year, the college cancelled Bissonnette’s certificate to practise.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca