Naturopath fails to show up to sentencing hearing for sexual assault, says he has gone to Greece
A Quebec Court judge issued an arrest warrant from the bench Friday morning after a Montreal naturopath failed to show up for a sentencing hearing. He was convicted in October of having sexually assaulted two women.
Judge Dennis Galiatsatos issued the warrant after being informed that Nicolas Agapiadis, 57, sent his lawyer, George Calaritis, a letter on Thursday stating that he had left for Greece and therefore would not be present for what was scheduled to be a sentencing hearing.
“I left because I cannot have proper care before going to jail. I don't know if it is because of COVID,” Calaritis read from Agapiadis's letter. “I need to be alive before I go to jail.”
Earlier in the case, Agapiadis claimed to be terminally ill with cancer, but the judge said Friday he has doubts about the claim. The plan for Friday was for Agapiadis to appear before the judge through a video conference.
Galiatsatos said he expects the Montreal police to begin an investigation into Agapiadis's whereabouts, “like now.” He even suggested that the police obtain warrants to get access to Agapiadis's
hospital records.
“If he shows up for a hospital appointment, I expect him to be arrested. If he shows up for a Christmas gathering, I expect him to be arrested,” the judge said. He added that he hopes the Canadian government will make every effort to track down Agapiadis, if he did indeed flee to Greece or another country, and to have him extradited.
“He is actively absconding,” the judge said.
He also expressed surprise that Agapiadis was not required to surrender any passports he possessed when he was granted bail in January 2016.
On Oct. 16, Galiatsatos found Agapiadis guilty of sexually assaulting two women, one in 2014 and the other in 2015, while he claimed to be trying to heal them in an office above a restaurant he owned in Old Montreal. Agapiadis wasn't present in court when he was convicted.
That day, Calaritis informed the court that scheduling the sentencing hearing would be a challenge because of his client's cancer diagnosis. He said Agapiadis had been recently transferred from the Jewish General Hospital to the MUHC Glen site because he had developed a cough and there were concerns he had contracted COVID-19.
The two victims were present in court on Friday and Galiatsatos had the option of listening to their victim impact statements and hearing sentencing arguments even if the accused was absent. The judge apologized to the victims and said it wouldn't be appropriate to hold a hearing on Friday given the circumstances, including the doubt as to whether Agapiadis actually went to Greece.
“Perhaps we will see each other again, perhaps not,” Galiatsatos told the victims before the hearing ended.
One of the victims told reporters that while she was disappointed with what happened on Friday, she was not surprised.
“It has just been one thing after another with this case,” the victim said. “It just speaks to everything about (Agapiadis).”
Prosecutor Annabelle Sheppard told reporters: “We will deploy every effort to bring him to court so that justice can be delivered.”
In October, Sheppard told Galiatsatos that she planned to recommend that Agapiadis be sentenced to a prison term that would have to be served in a federal penitentiary, or at least two years.