Serial sex assaulter gets four years
Massage therapist digitally penetrated at least six clients between 2009 and 2016
Mark Mcmahon Donlevy knew “he had no consent” and “was taking advantage of his position” when he groped and digitally penetrated six women during treatments, a Saskatoon judge said before sentencing the former registered massage therapist to four years in prison.
On Monday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, Justice Brian Scherman said the sentence strikes a balance between Donlevy’s personal circumstances and his “serious sexual offences.”
Donlevy, 51, will serve the four years in addition to the three-year sentence he is currently serving after being convicted of sexual assault for date-raping a women he met online in 2004.
This summer, he pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual assault stemming from when he was a massage therapy student in 2009 to when he was a licensed practitioner working out of his Main Street home in 2016.
During sentencing submissions, Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo argued for a global sentence of 61/2 years. Defence lawyer Alan Mcintyre argued for two to three years.
Scherman noted that he considered the assaults with digital penetration “very close” to a major sexual assault, which usually involves “penile penetration” and carries a sentence of around three years. He told the victims the terminology is not used to trivialize their experience, but is necessary to classify the offences for sentencing purposes.
Scherman said he disagreed with Mcintyre’s argument that Donlevy’s offences involved “fleeting touches,” and that he based this determination on comments Donlevy made during and after the assaults.
Court heard he called one victim a “bitch” when she told him to stop, and that he told another woman to “relax” while he was rubbing her inner thigh. One woman said she slapped Donlevy after he digitally penetrated her, and that he responded by claiming he thought she was “into it.”
“(These were) deliberate steps taken to test the victims to see how far he might be able to go without resistance, all the while knowing he had no consent and that he was taking advantage of his position in the circumstances,” Sherman said.
He said he agreed with the Crown that Donlevy was in a position of trust and took advantage of vulnerable women desperate for pain relief.
Many of the victims went to Donlevy because he claimed to specialize in pain alleviation.
Donlevy also pleaded guilty and took responsibility for his offences despite his “plethora” of mental-health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder and sex addiction, Scherman noted.
“He is not, in this court, a victim,” Scherman said. “The victims (are) the ladies he assaulted.”
Before he was sentenced, Donlevy stood up in the prisoner’s box, saying he’d “like to apologize from the deepest depths of my heart. It was never my intention or my desires to harm anyone. I am regretful, I am remorseful and I am truly sorry.”
He bent down in the prisoner’s box, burying his shaved head in his hands, after hearing his sentence.
“Based on his personal circumstances, this is a very significant sentence and it can prove quite devastating. All in all, I think it is good that this chapter is closed for everybody,” Mcintyre said after the sentencing.
During his submissions, Mcintyre asked that Scherman recommend Donlevy serve his sentence at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon, but Scherman declined to make the request.
Donlevy was first charged in 2016 after two women accused him of inappropriately touching them during separate appointments. Ten more women contacted police after the charges were announced. Donlevy was charged with 12 counts of sexual assault against 12 former clients.
His six remaining charges were stayed on Monday. Fillo said the Crown had to consider what a month-long trial, involving testimony from 12 women, would entail.
In their statements, the six victims described Donlevy as a “coward” who made them fear men in professional positions. Many said they didn’t think anyone would believe them until they learned Donlevy had been charged with other assaults.
“They wanted to support each other and they had held this inside for years, not feeling that they will be believed if they are the lone person. Their courage has gone beyond what any of us would know,” Fillo said outside the courthouse.
“There may be many more coming forward. I’ve heard from other people that they may be reporting matters, so I urge anyone else that has something to come forward, they will be dealt with seriously.”
There may be many more coming forward. I’ve heard from other people that they may be reporting matters