Winnipeg news: Doctor sentenced to 12 years behind bars for sexual assault [Video]

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.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
• Sign up now for daily CTV News Winnipeg newsletters

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 …