Controversial anti-malaria drug an element in Mark Donlevy's actions, says defence lawyer

The lawyer for a former Saskatoon massage therapist guilty of sexual assault said Friday that his client was given a controversial anti-malaria drug in 1992, and the effects haunt him still.

Alan McIntyre raised the point during sentencing arguments for Mark Donlevy, at the Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon.

Donlevy was found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a woman he met through an online dating site. McIntyre argued for a three-year sentence, while prosecutor Cory Bliss said three-and-a-half years is more appropriate.

McIntyre raised the issue of the impact ofthe anti-malaria drug, while providing Justice Heather MacMillan-Brownwith personal details about Donlevy's life.

McIntyre said that Donlevy took the anti-malarial drug while he was in Somalia serving with the Canadian military, and that it has affected him since then.

McIntyre said it exacerbated Donlevy's post-traumatic stress disorder and prompted him to see a psychiatrist.

McIntyre did not name the anti-malaria drug. But there are numerous news reports detailing the issues facing soldiers who took the drugmefloquinewhen in Somalia that year.

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McIntyre characterized the 49-year-old as a man who "served his country and his community." Donlevyis a lifelong Saskatoon resident who served in the military, worked as a fire fighter and has no criminal record.

Justice MacMillan-Brown will give her sentencing decision Nov. 15.

Donlevyisalso scheduled to stand trial later this fall on 11 other sexual assault charges related to when he worked as a massage therapist in the city.