A former physiotherapist who sexually assaulted two “vulnerable” patients during treatment in 2018 was sentenced to 11 months in prison on Wednesday at the Montreal courthouse. Edgar Tobon’s victims were traumatized to the point of stopping their treatment at the risk of their health.
Posted at 1:15 p.m.
Claire* was seeing Edgar Tobon for chronic back pain at the time. But after the sexual assault, she was no longer able to undergo treatment. “So my pain increased, until I couldn’t walk anymore. So I had to go back to see a professional in fear, ”she said in a letter read to the court on Wednesday during the imposition of the sentence.
Edgar Tobon took advantage of a first treatment with the young woman to touch her genitals. During a second appointment, the physiotherapist touched Claire’s buttocks a dozen times while executing a back and forth of a sexual nature between the buttocks and the genitals of the victim. She then felt that her attacker was erect.
“During the events, I felt trapped and froze for a while. My body was in shock and my thoughts were racing. I have suffered from anxiety ever since. […] I am hyper vigilant in my environment. It’s hard to trust health professionals and people in general,” says Claire.
Julie *, she has completely lost the “taste for life” following the aggression at the hands of Edgar Tobon. Thus, she never concluded her mandatory ankle treatment. “I couldn’t work for months. Everything changed in me for a long time. I suffered a shock, ”she says in a letter.
This woman in her fifties was Edgar Tobon’s last patient, one evening in February 2018. The therapist began by massaging her lower back, then continued on her buttocks. The victim was uncomfortable, but said nothing. Edgar Tobon then passed his hand under the victim’s panties and began to massage his anus with his knuckles.
Even today, Julie is afraid of being followed and assaulted in the street by Edgar Tobon. “My morale is destroyed,” she told the court.
The 61-year-old man had pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault in February 2021. Member of the Professional Order of Physiotherapy of Quebec from 1993 to 2018, Edgar Tobon practiced at the time of the events at the Clinique de Sacred Heart rehabilitation, in Mont-Saint-Hilaire. He has since been expelled from his professional order for six years.
It should be noted that Edgar Tobon sexually assaulted an investigator for the syndic of the Professional Order of Physiotherapy who was investigating allegations of sexual assault, according to a decision of the Disciplinary Council of the Order in January 2019. He did not however, have not been criminally charged in this case.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné, of the Court of Quebec, endorsed the joint suggestion of the lawyers on Wednesday. The Crown prosecutor, Mr.and Louise Blais, told the judge of the many mitigating factors in this case, including the “low” risk of recidivism of the accused, his remorse and his admission of guilt. Edgar Tobon also recognizes his gestures and says he is ready to invest in therapy.
*Names changed to protect the identity of the victims.