'They have all shown courage': Peterborough massage therapist receives jail time for sex assaults on clients - The Peterborough Examiner

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This article contains explicit descriptions of sexual assault that may be upsetting or disturbing for some readers. If you or anyone you know is in need of assistance, the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre runs a 24-hour crisis support line at 705-741-0260.

Former Peterborough massage therapist Gerard Rodrigues has been sent to jail.

In October 2021, Justice Robert Beninger found Rodrigues guilty of three counts of sexual assault on former clients.

“They have all shown courage,” Justice Beninger said of the survivors on Tuesday, April 5 in the Ontario Court of Justice in Peterborough as he sentenced Rodrigues to 18 months behind bars.

Justice Beninger called the sexual assaults intrusive and a breach of trust that resulted in severe consequences for all the victims.

“They have all shown resilience,” he added, noting that attending and testifying at trial was a very hard thing to do.

Further, Justice Beninger highlighted that Rodrigues denied any wrongdoing, and there was no remorse and no acknowledgement of the harm he did to the victims.


“I also want to emphasize that none of the victims bear any responsibility for the actions of Mr. Rodrigues,” Justice Beninger added.

In sentencing Rodrigues, Beninger handed the 62-year-old a six-month sentence for each victim, and it will be served consecutively. Following his jail sentence, Rodrigues will be placed on two months’ probation, which includes an order to not practise message therapy.

Over the course of the trial, which was prosecuted by assistant Crown attorney Kelly Eberhard, Beninger heard how Rodrigues used what he called yoni massage therapy techniques on two of the women to commit the sexual assaults.

According to several online articles, “yoni” is “vagina” in Sanskrit, and the sensual massage practice is allegedly used to free women of both mental and physical tensions. Massage techniques include cupping, circling, pushing, pulling, tugging and rolling a woman’s genital organs.

During sentencing submission, assistant Crown attorney Lisa Wannamker said the victim impact in this case is devastating.

“I will endeavour to use the term survivor because, as you have read, it is heart-wrenching to see how powerless, how low and how afraid Mr. Rodrigues made these women feel when, in reality, it took great courage and strength for them to come forward,” Wannamaker said at the January sentencing hearing.

In an emotional, tearful victim impact statement, one of the three survivors called Rodrigues a charlatan and noted that she would not forgive her abuser.

“This man has caused so much pain, with his betrayal of trust, and the sickness of his soulless, unconscionable actions,” she told the court, adding Rodrigues caused her physical pain during the assault and ongoing emotional and spiritual damage.


The convictions require Rodrigues to be a registered sex offender for life.

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