‘I felt something in my hand:’ victim of disgraced Nanaimo massage therapist speaks out

The victim, a 32-year-old Nanaimo woman, was referred to Paradis by colleagues who recommended the longtime local massage therapist who owned his own practice.

It was the victim’s third one-hour appointment with Paradis, whom she had no complaints about during their first two encounters.

The third appointment only lasted 15 minutes.

When the victim arrived for the 10 a.m. treatment, Paradis’ Extension Rd. clinic was completely empty as opposed to multiple patients being served as was the case previously.

The normally chatty Paradis was not his sociable self that day.

She was tired and not in a social mood either.

The topless, face-down victim informed Paradis that she may fall asleep on the table.

“It is inherently a very vulnerable position to begin with, but I had been to him twice and had no issues, so I was comfortable,” the victim told NanaimoNewsNOW during an extended sit-down interview.

She said Paradis was informed previously of her ongoing ailments, which they discussed during the other appointments: neck and shoulder tightness, as well as a sore left hip and lower back.

This time she noted he didn’t inquire about what treatments to focus on, which the victim found strange.

Paradis began by massaging her right side and upper buttock. The victim assumed there must have been a reason for venturing below her lower back.

He then treated her shoulder, which made sense to her, but then he worked on her biceps, which she found completely bizarre.

“I almost said something, then he moved along, but he was kind of massaging my bicep and accidentally grazing my boob with the outside of his fingers.”

Paradis moved onto the victim’s forearm when the treatment took a sordid turn.

“Next I felt something in my hand that I thought was his thumb, then I felt both his hands on my forearm and something in my hand, and then I realized it was his penis.”

She turned around and yelled at him.

“I ripped my hand out and he backed away, he zipped his pants up and said ‘sorry, sorry, sorry.’”

She hopped up on the massage table, covered herself with a sheet and ran toward the lobby where Paradis was continuously apologizing.

“I don’t know if it was in his plan that day, or spur of the moment disgusting predator behaviour. I have no clue.”

She was on the phone with her then boyfriend while en-route to the Nanaimo RCMP detachment to make a statement when she ignored a phone call from Paradis.

The victim said he was arrested the same day while massaging another client.

She returned a few days later to make a detailed police statement after calming down and processing what had occurred.

She also filed a complaint and was interviewed by an investigator with the College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC (CCHPBC).

Restrictive conditions in the form of an extraordinary order were promptly placed by the regulatory body against Paradis, including barring him from treating females.

Reporting what happened to police was a top priority to protect other potential victims, she emphasized.

“I felt no hesitation with reporting it even though obviously it has been quite a stressful journey since, but I think it would have been worse knowing that he might be doing this to other people.”

She was pleased to hear Paradis plead guilty and sentenced, as opposed to him fighting the charge and the agonizing possibility of having to testify at trial.

The victim attended the sentencing hearing virtually as she was out of town at the time.

Impacts on the victim have been immense.

She’s had difficulty sleeping, has completely lost trust in male massage therapists, and avoids men in public settings.

Potentially seeing Paradis in public has also raised her anxiety level.

Continued counselling has aided the victim’s healing journey, as has opening up to friends, family and co-workers about what she’s gone through.

“That has actually really helped a lot because the less I hold it in, the less anxiety it causes me and then also other people knowing can help support me.”

She thanked Nanaimo RCMP and Crown counsel’s Suzanne Cassell for their support.

“From the get-go I was believed one thousand per cent and I know that the fear of not being believed is a massive factor in not reporting things like this.”

In addition to six months behind bars, a year-long probation order for Paradis takes effect when he’s released from custody.

A court-imposed DNA order must also be submitted by Paradis.

The victim said Paradis sold his massage therapy practice, relinquished his license to practice, and has been attending sex offender counselling.

She said he had been been working as a delivery driver prior to being jailed.

NanaimoNewsNOW reached out to the CCHPBC for an update on its review of Paradis’ licensing status as a registered massage therapist in the province.

An online profile of Paradis states he’s a father of four boys, and a retired massage therapist with a great driving record whose fulfilled various community service roles, including massaging the homeless.

The profile indicated he served the entirety of his 29 year massage therapy career in Nanaimo.

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by Ian Holmes

‘I felt something in my hand:’ victim of disgraced Nanaimo massage therapist speaks out

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