A former Saanich massage therapist was sentenced in a Victoria Courtroom Monday after being convicted of four counts of voyeurism.
Gilles-Phillipe Lavoie was handed a six-month conditional sentence and 18 months of probation for secretly videotaping four women, after pleading guilty to the charges in June.
Marion Brulot, his former partner, was one of the women victimized. She found out that she had been secretly videotaped by Lavoie while the two of them were being intimate.
“It’s a complete slap to the face,” Brulot told CHEK News outside the courtroom.
Family and friends who gathered for the sentencing held up signs that read “no consent = sexual predator” and “tougher penalties for sexual predators,” but for Brulot their messages went unheard.
“I’m a survivor of years of sexual abuse and sexual assault and I told him no and he did it anyways, and he is walking out of court with probation,” said Brulot.
Last year, Saanich Police opened an investigation on Lavoie after an allegation that the RMT had used his cell phone to videotape one of his female clients without her consent, while she was changing. Police soon found more videos, including one of Brulot.
For the first three months of his sentence, Lavoie will have a 7 p.m. to 6a.m. curfew. For the last three months, his curfew will be from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Lavoie cannot enter any relationship for six months until his conditional sentence supervisor informs the person of his criminal record.
Brulot says the decision is simply a slap on the wrist.
“My world has crashed. My daughter is devastated, she lost the only man she ever knew as a father, she doesn’t understand why, she’s too little,” she said. “We’ve lost our home, I had to go on stress leave, I’ve had huge financial impacts, all this pain, all this suffering. I’m carrying that weight, not Phil.”
With loved ones by her side, Brulot is starting on her path towards healing, hoping others will speak up about their own experiences so together they can work to change the system she feels has pushed so many women to the side.
Hannah Lepine
