Warning: This article discusses sexual assault.
A Canadian doctor running a military support group has apologised for violating the trust of sexual assault survivors by allowing a registered sex offender to a six-day women's retreat with them as a peer mentor.
Dr. Manuela Joannou is the leader of Project Trauma - a support group for military personnel and veterans struggling with PTSD.
In July 2018, Dr Joannou organised a six-day female retreat, and invited retired army major Jonathan Hamilton along as a mentor.
What she failed to disclose was that Hamilton had recently been convicted of two separate cases of sexual assault.
CBC reports 12 of the female attendees were sexual assault survivors.
Retired Canadian Forces corporal Tina Sharp attended the retreat, and told CBC on Tuesday she felt "suicidal" after discovering the truth about Hamilton.
"I'm filled with deep anger," she said. "In the process of trying to heal from my military sexual trauma, I was exposed to a sex offender who had already re-offended... He heard me talk about some of my sexual trauma."
Sharp says she discovered via Google that Hamilton has been added to the sex offenders register for life in 2017 - and when she confronted Dr Joannou about it, was told not to believe everything she read, and that Hamilton deserved empathy.
"She asked me not to tell anyone," said Sharp. "I didn't know what to do at that point... I was questioning my own sanity."
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Joannou said she is "deeply saddened" over the impact her choice had.
"I am deeply saddened by the compounded hurt and pain that having a registered sex offender as a mentor on our program in 2018 has caused for so many people.
"If I had a chance to do it all over again, this would not have happened. Did we make some errors in our early efforts? Undoubtedly, but it has shaped our awareness and our methods going forward."
The post comes a day after Joannou, in an exchange with CBC News, defended her actions and did not apologise for using Hamilton as a peer support mentor.
She now says she is "committed to doing better".
