WARNING: This story contains disturbing content and graphic testimony and is not suitable for all readers
A former Burnaby spa employee who said he provided what were described as “vaginal tightening treatments” should spend a dozen years in prison, prosecutors argued on Wednesday.
A jury convicted Farshad Khojsteh-Kashani of seven counts of sexual assault involving seven different victims in April.
He was initially charged in 2022, after two women who received “high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) vaginal tightening services” at Fab Skin Care in Burnaby went to police.
Fraser Health subsequently advised anyone who had received the same procedure to be screened for sexually transmitted infections, because they were not provided by a registered health professional, and werent’ done with appropriate infection control measures.
On Wednesday, the court heard impact statements from all seven victims, four of whom read them personally.
“I trusted Farshad…but instead he betrayed by trust in the worst, violating way possible … He hurt me physically and psychologically,” one woman told the court
“I will never forget how vulnerable and violated I felt that day,” another said through tears. “Just driving past the location in Burnaby sends chills through my spine.”
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Other victims described struggling to get their health back to this day, and how the assault was “humiliating, degrading and terrifying.”
The 53-year-old, who described himself on his website as “Dr. Farshad,” is not a doctor, but a spa operator working in a “largely unregulated” industry, Crown prosecutor Jacinta Lawson said.
“The lack of regulation resulted in a perfect environment for a sexual predator like Mr. Khojsteh-Kashani to operate,” she told the court.
Many of the victims had come to him seeking other treatments when he introduced them to the invasive vaginal procedure, which is performed with an 18-centimetre wand, she said. The harm caused was exacerbated by the degree of trust his victims put in him, Lawton told the court.
She told the court there were actually nine assaults in total, with two of the victims assaulted twice.
“Mr. Khojsteh-Kashani made a conscious decision nine times to exploit these women’s trust in him,” she told the court, adding that he did not stop when some of the women asked him to.
Khojsteh-Kashani objectified women and “treated the women as objects to use for his sexual pleasure,” she said.
At trial, Khojsteh-Kashani denied assaulting any of the victims or that he performed the procedure in a sexual manner, and told the court he was always concerned with their comfort.
The trial heard how Khojsteh-Kashani had rubbed victims’ clitorises and penetrated them with his fingers. The court heard he asked one victim if using the wand had “turned her on” and asked another if she wanted him to “finish her off.”
One victim said she felt like she had just had sex after the procedure, while another said it “felt like he was using it like a sex toy.”
The Crown is seeking a sentence of 12 years and three months.
Khojsteh-Kashani’s defence is seeking a conditional sentence order followed by probation, and is expected to make its arguments on Thursday.
Khojsteh-Kashani is also expected to address the court.
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