Mark Donlevy to learn sentence for sexual assaults of six massage clients - Saskatoon StarPhoenix

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Mark McMahon Donlevy is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday for sexually assaulting six women while he was a massage student and registered massage therapist in Saskatoon.

Mark Donlevy enters Saskatoon's Court of Queen's Bench on Sept. 7, 2018, where he faces one charge of sexual assault. Matt Olson / Saskatoon StarPhoen / Saskatoon


Mark McMahon Donlevy is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday for sexually assaulting six women while he was a massage student and registered massage therapist in Saskatoon.

During sentencing submissions last week in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, the defence argued Donlevy, 51, should receive a prison term of two to three years. The Crown, in September, proposed a sentence of six and a half years.

Donlevy pleaded guilty this summer 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.

Court heard Donlevy groped and digitally penetrated women while performing treatments. Many of the victims suffered from chronic pain and sought out Donlevy, who touted himself as a pain alleviation specialist.

Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo argued he was in a position of trust — an aggravating factor in sentencing — and took advantage of women’s vulnerabilities.

Donlevy’s offences involved “fleeting touches” and are on the lower end of the sexual assault spectrum, defence lawyer Alan McIntyre argued. He said most of the assaults were “opportunistic” and unlikely to recur.

Last week, Donlevy’s psychologist told the sentencing hearing that Donlevy has post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, sex and alcohol addiction, insomnia and possible brain damage from mefloquine, an anti-malarial drug used in the military.

Dr. D’Arcy Helmer said the diagnoses do not excuse Donlevy’s actions, but they are important to consider when it comes to rehabilitation. He recommended Donlevy serve his sentence at Saskatoon’s Regional Psychiatric Centre, where he would have access to several medications and continued neurotherapy.

Two women came forward in 2016 and reported Donlevy had sexually assaulted them during separate appointments in 2013 and 2016. Ten more women contacted police after the charges were announced. The registered massage therapist was charged with a total of 12 counts of sexual assault against 12 different women, but the Crown agreed to stay half the charges at the conclusion of sentencing.

In their victim impact statements, the women described Donlevy as a “coward” who made them fear men in professional positions. Many women said they didn’t think anyone would believe them until they learned Donlevy had been charged with other assaults.

The Crown wants Donlevy to serve his sentence in addition to the three-year sentence he is currently serving for date-raping a woman in 2004 — a conviction Donlevy is appealing.

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