Niagara masseur doesn't think his breast massages were inappropriate, court told - NiagaraFallsReview.ca

[massage]

A local masseur who maintained massaging breasts is a normal part of a full-body massage apologized in court Friday to two women who accused him of sexual assault

However, he maintained there was no sexual intent behind his actions.

“I do it to help people ... if I ever hurt anybody, I’m sorry about it,” 62-year-old Claudel Fortin told Judge Donald Wolfe in court.

“I know from the bottom of my heart I don’t do it to hurt people. I don’t do that sexually, because it’s not that.”

He was found guilty in September. A presentence report filed at a sentencing hearing in an Ontario Court of Justice in Welland indicated Fortin has never expressed remorse for his actions and doesn’t think what he did was inappropriate.

The author of the report said the defendant does not see his behaviour as deviant, rather his massages are “an act of charity for individuals in his life.”

The Welland man also suggested one of the victims is to blame for his current situation before the courts.

Fortin was charged with sexual assault in spring 2018 after a woman reported to police she had been fondled during a massage at his home studio.


A second woman came forward after reading about the man’s arrest in the media. She said she had been molested during a massage several years earlier.

Victim impact statements from the victims were read into court by the Crown.

The letters described how both women continue to struggle to come to terms with what happened.

“I’m tired of people like him getting away with these kinds of acts. I’m tired of defending my depression, my anxiety, stress, fear, insecurities, trauma, etc.,” one woman wrote.

“I’m very tired of fighting a battle I never asked to fight in the first place.”

The second victim said “the day you assaulted me was the last day I felt safe.”

“Physically, you did not hurt me, but you sent my mental well-being on a terrible tailspin.”

Assistant Crown attorney Mark Eshuis asked the judge to impose a sentence of 15 months behind bars.

‘“This is a breach of trust situation,” he said, and asked the judge to consider an order that the offender not provide any massage services to females in the future “…to hopefully prevent this from happening again.”

Defence counsel Mark Evans advocated for a sentence of 12 months.

He said his client, who had no prior criminal record, “has built up a lot of credit in the bank of good behaviour.”

“His life has been positive, and unremarkable,” adding the man has “for many, many years given massages to many, many people.”


Fortin, who will return to court in January for sentencing, underwent massage therapist training in Quebec and Tibet, however his qualifications were not recognized in Ontario.

Both women testified the defendant had touched their breasts and genitals during a massage.

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Fortin denied touching the genitals, but admitted he did touch their breasts and said it is a normal part of the massage procedure.

He claimed he told the women what he was going to do. Both women denied such a conversation took place.


When one of the victims told Fortin she was uncomfortable with him touching her breasts, she said he replied that other customers enjoyed it and that she should relax.