A massage therapist who used his cellphone to video-record two patients disrobing and two women having sex with him has received a six-month conditional sentence followed by 18 months of probation.
In June, Phil Lavoie pleaded guilty to secretly observing and recording four women between March 20 and Aug. 10, 2020. Lavoie, 42, admitted he unlawfully and surreptitiously recorded four women “where those people could be expected to be nude or to be engaged in explicit sexual activity in circumstances where they had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
“Mr. Lavoie’s crimes were extremely serious and an egregious breach of trust,” Victoria provincial court Judge Christine Lowe said Monday, rejecting the defence’s request for a suspended sentence. “Those who consider such actions must know that there will be serious consequences for this behaviour.”
Two of his victims were intimate partners, one past, one present. None of the four women had consented to the invasion of their privacy, said Lowe.
The voyeurism might have gone undetected, but for the quick actions of a patient who had an appointment on Aug. 10, 2020. While the two were talking about her health issues, Lavoie placed his cellphone under some towels and secretly recorded their session. When he left the room, the woman disrobed down to her panties, then spotted the cellphone, said Lowe. She realized immediately it was recording.
She picked it up, quickly got dressed and ran from the clinic to her car. Lavoie followed her but was unable to catch her. He called her three times from the clinic. But she drove directly to the Saanich Police Department, banged on the door and turned over the cellphone.
“She was distraught, shocked and extremely frightened,” said Lowe. “But her brave actions revealed the offences against the other three victims.”
In her victim-impact statement, the woman described how traumatic, terrifying, humiliating and stressful the experience was.
She had never experienced such immense fear, Lowe said — she was in shock and feared for her life, and will never seek massage therapy from a man again.
After he was charged, Lavoie helped police identify the other victims. A 19-year-old woman had also been surreptitiously video-recorded that morning as she got undressed.
The third victim was Lavoie’s common-law spouse. Although Lavoie confessed that he had been arrested for recording another woman while she was undressing, he did not tell his common-law spouse that he had hidden a camera in the bookcase in their bedroom and video-recorded her having sex with him
In her victim-impact statement, she spoke about her feelings of betrayal and the loss her young daughter felt because she was so fond of Lavoie.
“I fear it is easy to label voyeurism as a minor crime and to dismiss its impact on victims as short-term …. This is far from reality,” she wrote. When Lavoie had asked if he could film them having sex, she had said “no.” The cost of counselling for both her and her daughter was significant, court heard.
Lavoie also had intimate relations with a former partner on July 28, 2020, which he video-recorded without the woman’s consent. She did not file a victim-impact statement.
A pre-sentence report shows Lavoie’s risk for sexual reoffending is in the low-moderate range and he is not at risk to become sexually violent. The report suggested Lavoie would benefit more from one-to-one counselling than traditional sex-offender treatment.
The judge accepted that Lavoie is extremely remorseful. He has apologized to all his victims, takes responsibility for his actions and understands that he has broken their trust.
The number of victims, premeditation, keeping of the videos and breach of trust were deemed aggravating factors at sentencing. The crime has had an impact on the profession of massage therapists as a whole, with the impact on male practitioners significant, said Lowe.
“It’s not too far-fetched to say there will be many members of the community who will now question going to male doctors or practitioners.”
In mitigation, Lavoie has no criminal record, pleaded guilty and co-operated with police, Lowe said. He has lost his profession, income and ability to find meaningful employment, has taken steps to address his issues through counselling and has strong family support.
For the first three months of his sentence, Lavoie will have a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. For the second three months, his curfew will be from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Lavoie must not enter into any relationship until his conditional sentence supervisor informs the person of his criminal record, and he is not permitted to engage in massage therapy for money.
