Massage therapist faces years in prison for sex assaults - Winnipeg Free Press

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BRANDON — A former massage therapist apologized after being confronted in court by his victims, who said he robbed them of their dignity and humiliated them by sexually assaulting them.

Michael Petrowski, who had pleaded guilty to 11 sexual assault charges last July, sat looking straight ahead as two of his victims addressed the court and two victim impact statements were read to the judge.

Then he had his turn to speak.

"I cannot say I’m sorry enough," Petrowski told court. "I apologize individually and collectively to the patients I’ve hurt," he said, adding he knows he abused the trust they had placed in him.

Crown attorney Andrew Sieklicki recommended Petrowski serve five years in prison.

"This case is about trust," he said. "Trust in a professional who abused their role as a massage therapist and sexually abused multiple women, his clients, for his own pleasure."

More than a dozen people sat in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing.

Petrowski was arrested on Nov. 29, 2019, after two women told Brandon police he had made inappropriate sexual comments while touching them in a sexual manner during treatment.

After the first reports, six more women made allegations of similar incidents between February and August 2019.

Additional women later came forward and by February 2020, there were more than a dozen complainants.

The complainants came forward independently of one another. Details that could identify them are protected a publication ban.

All the women had their breasts fondled and their buttocks touched, the Crown said.

Some had their groins touched and Petrowski made sexual comments during their treatment. There was one instance of digital penetration.

"Others in the community need to understand that this behaviour is completely unacceptable but especially unacceptable for an individual who puts themselves into a situation where people are putting their bodies into a vulnerable situation seeking therapy from the massage therapist," Sieklicki said.

Two people read victim impact statements in court and two more were submitted to the Crown. One woman said she was optimistic, charismatic and compassionate before the assault, but was left with a "burden beyond comprehension."

"Michael Petrowski stripped me of my dignity, humiliated me during a time of professional vulnerability and impacted my feelings of self-worth," she told court.

The woman said she deals with mental health issues and has struggled since the assault.

Another woman who spoke in court said the assault caused her emotional duress.

"I will never be able to have a male give me a massage again due to the high anxiety involved. This assault made me feel ashamed of myself for letting it occur," she said. "I’m really looking forward to him no longer being on the street."

Defence lawyer Saul Simmonds said Petrowski is remorseful and he noted the guilty plea saved the victims from having to testify at a trial.

"Mr. Petrowski has internalized it, he is shamed by his own behaviour, he is humiliated by what he has done… and I think it’s important for the court to take that into account."

Simmonds recommended a sentence of between two and three years in prison, followed by a long term of probation.

He said Petrowski knows he will spend time in jail and is the "author of his own misfortune."

Judge Patrick Sullivan will render his sentence in May.

— Brandon Sun