N.D.G. massage therapist sentenced to 18 months for seven sexual assaults
A former Notre-Dame-de- Grâce resident who operated a massage therapy business out of his home for years was sentenced to an 18-month prison term on Thursday for having sexually assaulted seven of his clients.
David Kost, 50, was taken into custody after Quebec Court Judge Denis Mondor delivered a decision on the sentence at the Montreal courthouse. Despite highlighting a few aggravating factors that contributed to his decision, Mondor leaned more toward the recommendation made by Kost’s lawyer, a 15-month sentence, than the 30-month prison term requested by prosecutor Anne Gauvin.
The prosecutor later told reporters that she was disappointed with Mondor’s decision especially when one considers the number of women Kost abused.
Last year, Kost pleaded guilty to having sexually assaulted two of the victims and Gauvin had asked that he be sentenced to a ninemonth prison term while defence lawyer Johanne Delfausse asked that he be able to serve a sentence in the community in order to keep his fish shop, formerly located on Somerled Ave., open for business.
Media coverage of that sentence hearing caught the attention of five other women who came forward and filed complaints with the Montreal police before Mondor could deliver his decision. The judge decided to postpone his decision when he learned of the new charges. In the interim, Kost closed his shop and moved to the Eastern Townships before he pleaded guilty in June to sexually assaulting the five other women.
On Thursday, Mondor sentenced Kost to the nine-month prison term Gauvin requested back in October for the first case. The judge sentenced him to another nine months for the case involving the five other women, the prison terms to be served consecutively. That will be followed by two years of probation during which Kost will be required to follow therapy, if he doesn’t complete a program while incarcerated. Mondor also ordered that Kost not be allowed to massage anyone, besides a family member, while he serves the sentence.
In explaining his decision, Mondor noted that the sexual assaults were carried out over a period of four years, between 2012 and 2016. He said another aggravating factor was the breach of trust because the women had placed themselves in a vulnerable position in seeking pain relief from a professional. In some cases Kost rubbed his erect penis against the women while he massaged them. In one case he inserted his fingers inside the vagina of a fellow massage therapist while massaging her. When she objected he claimed his hand had slipped.
The judge said he also took into account how Kost had no previous criminal record and how he spared the victims the hardship of having to testify about the abuse in court had there been a trial. Mondor also noted that Kost appeared to express genuine remorse after learning that the women experienced distress and anxiety after they were abused.
“He is very ashamed of what he did,” Delfausse said outside the courtroom after Kost was sentenced.
“He realized that these were acts of violence and that they left a heavy mark on the victims.”