A personal trainer from North Vancouver who got far too personal with a teenaged client was told his behaviour was "disgusting" but not worthy of a criminal record by a provincial court judge Friday.
"You say you're embarrassed. You should be embarrassed," Judge Doug Moss told 41-year-old Mark Richard Gharibians, after Gharibians pleaded guilty to sexual assault in North Vancouver provincial court.
Crown counsel Ron Edwards said Gharibians crossed the line following a personal training session with a 17-year-old girl. After the training session, Gharibians drove the girl to a secluded beach in West Vancouver, where he started asking her about her future plans.
The girl later told police the setting made her feel "a little bit creeped out," said Edwards.
Soon after, Gharibians began to massage the girl. He then told her he had something that would help warm up her hands.
The next thing she knew, said Edwards, Gharibians had placed his penis in her hand.
"She was immediately repulsed and grossed out," said Edwards.
Edwards described Gharibians' lewd come-on as "clumsy, upsetting and criminal" but said he was not asking for a criminal record. "It appears to be one-off behaviour."
Gharibians' defence lawyer Brian Mickelson described what happened as "completely out of character" for his client.
Mickelson said Gharibians was taking a high level of supplements at the time that affected his sex drive and testosterone levels.
He "deluded himself" into thinking the teenager was sexually interested in him, Mickelson said.
Moss told Gharibians he had abused the girl's trust. "You're 24 years her elder," he said. "It's disgusting what you did."
Moss let Gharibians off without a criminal record, however, giving him a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation.
