Mightier Than This Blog

2008-08-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

(Previously posted on Facebook):
Photo: Jack Boland/Sun Media

Wicked Club: A Sea of Fragrant Balls

...Not that I was close enough to sniff them for a fact, but when I finally ventured upstairs that's all I could really detect. Fragrant balls and lube.

This is my own experience at Wicked Club.

But maybe I should rewind four hours to when I first arrived to Wicked Club, an on-premise swingers club at Queen and Ossington that had opened up several years ago.

I had interviewed club owners Aurora and Shlomo Benzion a few days previous and asked to check out the second and third floor VIP areas to get "a taste" of what really goes on during the weekend.

So Sun photog Jack Boland met me around 10 p.m. Saturday night and for the next half-hour or so shot the owners with a few bar hostesses dressed in schoolgirl lingerie, all posing in provocative ways.

Jack left shortly after we headed down to the dance floor area leaving a friend Yee-Guan I had met there to fend for ourselves. Even though it was "barely legal schoolgirl night," there weren't a lot people aside from myself dressed up. I had dusted off my Japanese Battle Royale school uniform, which hadn't been worn since I hugged Elvira, Mistress of the Dark a few comic-cons ago, tossed on a pair of ballet slippers and off I went.

YG and I nervously sat at a rectangular booth with another couple who looked like newbies. We tried making some small talk with them, but we got the sense they weren't really into it so we left them alone. The girl, dressed in a clingy miniskirt, was definitely more into the scene than her boyfriend.

As the night progressed, the dance floor of the club became more crowded. Some obviously regular ladies took the plunge and entered the circular caged area in the centre and like a conga line, the three women squished and grinded up against each other like it was the rinse cycle.

Around midnight, Shlomo tells me, "It's too early - they need to get in the mood first" before going up to the VIP floors.

Shlomo and Aurora would keep checking up on us no matter where we'd move. It made me feel more awkward about being there since the club scene isn't really my thing and nor is the music and dancing. I kept thinking, where can rock and roll nerds get their 'swing' on?

Most of the people were in their 30s or 40s. Granted, there may have been a few people in their mid to late 20s and a couple in their 50s. The majority were couples, as there were restrictions of single men coming in alone. Single women are always welcome, on the other hand.

At about 1:15 a.m. - after we witness a woman dressed in a cop uniform perform a topless lapdance for her husband in the booth next to us - the VIP floor is finally ready for us. Everyone is liquored up nicely and horny.

There is a strict policy of towels and lingerie so YG and I changed in the communal locker room area. I turned out to be the only one wearing lingerie - a purple corset - while everyone opted for the easy access route. Made sense - I didn't plan on partaking myself that evening.

No, I was just there "to watch."

Turns out, lots of other people felt the same as me.

On the second floor, there is a bar leading into several couches, including one shaped as big like Meg Ryan's lips. Aurora was at the bar and began talking to me about dress codes and clientele. I was listening, but my eyes kept wandering to the couple going at it in the corner, the man jackhammering his partner as if the rapture was steadfastly approaching.

"Uh huh...well, I think we're going to check out the bed over there."

The "bed" is more like a rectangular area made up of several mattresses pushed together. There might've been at least 20 people there, some couples, others three and foursomes. My view was of a row of ass and balls. Most of the men were down on all fours pleasuring their wives and girlfriends or someone else's wife/girlfriend. I took a sip of water.

To my left, we notice the same couple we thought were newbies before are involved in other shenanigans. It appeared the girlfriend was blowing this one guy with another chick while her boyfriend watched. We saw them again later and she was getting fingered by another dude while her boyfriend watched. Who would've guessed - her boyfriend was into it after all.

The second floor also has a jacuzzi and shower as well. I watched this dude soap himself up and wished it were Robert Downey Jr. instead.

The 3rd floor is more of what goes on on the 2nd floor but better. It's dimmer, tinged by red lights and when you first reach the top of the stairs, there is a sex swing. When we arrived, a couple was using it while two other couples watched and masturbated. As the swing couple came, they got a standing ovation.

The wife dressed up as Bad Cop took the mainstage bed and fucked her husband while voyeurs watched through the two-way mirrors in the adjacent rooms.

Down the hall are a series of rooms, some with sliding doors, some without. If the door was open, you could peek in and watch what was going on. If it was closed, it was for privacy. I only saw one door closed 80% of the way for the hour I was there.

All the beds were shared by one or more couples who loved being watched or maybe just didn't care. Some people even used the small table in the hall as leverage as they fucked. It was sort of sensory overload. I hadn't ever seen anyone bang in front of me in person unless I was involved - and with watching porn, it's different, so that took a little time to get used to. But it didn't take long.

I was intrigued and turned on watching this four-way happen up in the "dungeon area," which looks more like a lion's cage, anyway. One girl was going down on the other as their boyfriends jerked off. Next to them, a woman rode her partner hard and whimpered and moaned as he went faster. All around me there was something going on.

A couple from Hamilton were also watching the scene. The girl, wearing a black bra, and I start chatting. "So is it your first time here?" she asks. "Yes, it's pretty crazy." "Do you want to go up there and play?" "I'm...just here to watch." She's very cool with my limits. "Hey, that's totally fine."

That's the one thing I got the vibe of - even in the dance area - swingers seem to be very easy-going.

There were condoms in baskets, though I can't recall anyone using them. But who knows if it was bareback sex with their own partner - you can't really tell.

There was some comedy throughout the night, though.
As I was watching four couples all bent over in all kinds of uncomfortable positions, a man peeks in with me. "My girlfriend...her shoes are in there still."

I tell him, "Go for it. Just climb over people." He does but gives up after a few seconds of sifting through people mid-coitus. He exits, smiles at me and shrugs. I tell him: "Get it later...they'll still be there."

Other than that, I wasn't propositioned and I never had my personal space invaded. This kind of thing never really seemed taboo to me. And after a while, it just reminded me of a nudist colony, only people commune to have sex. I went to a Cuddle Party a few years ago and the "puppy piles" they do where everyone lies on top of each other - being at Club Wicked sort of reminded me of that.

I'd probably recommend this place for the curious swinger. However, I doubt Shlomo would've let me in through the door and upstairs - I doubt I'd fit in their standard of beauty just by the way they were looking YG and I up and down.

I will admit that when I got home, I did maul my boyfriend thinking about the foursome I witnessed hours before. But the stuff that went on in our bedroom seemed way hotter than my experience at Wicked Club.

But that's just me.

2008-08-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sex abounds in T.O.

Flourishing swingers scene gets T.O. council hot & bothered

JENNY YUEN Sun Media

PHOTOS: JACK BOLAND/Sun Media

Inside Club Wicked's "exhibitionist room" a tanned blond wearing aviator shades and a tight, cropped police uniform straddles her husband.

A dim bulb in the sconce lamp over the bed bathes her in red, wraps around her curves. The humidity of the place smells of scented lube and sweat. The pounding bass from Euro Dance music is leaking from invisible speakers. It almost overpowers the screams and whimpers. Almost.

The blond smiles slyly at the two-way mirror, at the towel-clad couples in the other room who are watching.

LATEST TARGET

A curious couple peeks through beads on the doorway. "Can we play?" they ask, and wait for a nod before hopping onto the bed.

Beside them, a window overlooking the traffic and bustle along Queen St. W.

Swingers are the latest target of Toronto council.

"We're not into legislating morality between consenting adults," insists Etobicoke-Lakeshore Councillor Peter Milczyn. "It's when you're creating those establishments in residential communities then it's set up as a conflict."

At a council meeting in June, 33 city councillors voted in favour of a motion to close two Etobicoke swinger clubs -- Club Hers and Menage a Quatre.

The two clubs are part of this city's flourishing swingers scene. From clubs to cruises to condo parties, Toronto has become a swinger's destination, eclipsing Montreal as Canada's swingers capital, those in the scene suggest.

Busloads of American swingers travel here, because it is legal in this country for consenting adults to practice open, explicit sex acts within the relatively public confines of a club.

However, the same city fathers who preach diversity, who embrace immigrants, multiculturalism, Toronto's large and well-established lesbian and gay community have difficulty with swingers.

Etobicoke-North Councillor Rob Ford, who supported the motion to close the clubs, said he doesn't feel swingers clubs reflect what Toronto stands for, even if they do attract tourism. Yet, it was only last year when the city invested $150,000 for racy ads as part of their Live With Culture campaign to boost tourism.

"Families and people like that," Ford said this week. "They're the ones who bring the money to the city."

"Toronto being sex capital of the world wouldn't bode too well with tourists in general," he said.

This fall, the city manager will begin work in consultation with the police, planning department, public health, fire services and municipal licensing and standards to oust the swinger clubs.

"I don't think our staff know what's going on here and I want to find out and get these shut down," local Councillor Mark Grimes previously told the Sun. "I'm hearing from the community that single men are getting out of cabs, there's prostitutes loitering around the area, they're picking them up and going into these clubs."

'GLORY HOLE'

There is certainly a lot going on inside the clubs.

On a Saturday night at Wicked, it looks like a scene from the movie Eyes Wide Shut, but without the masks.

Husbands and wives begin kissing wildly and hands start to wander. Some change partners and others opt for the anonymity of "glory hole" booths. On the top floor, a hallway fan buzzes to dry off the sweat. There is chatter on the patio where towelled and naked bodies go for a post-sex cigarette. There isn't even a tinge of pushiness in the air as the couples walk hand-in-hand and climb into bed with four other couples too busy to notice their presence. Between the moans of ecstasy, you can hear fiendish giggles.

But "Toronto the Good" has always struggled with morality issues. City and law enforcement officials have at various times over past decades cracked down on strip clubs, massage parlours, prostitution and public sex, particularly the kind practised by gay men and lesbians.

Most infamously, however, Toronto is known for the gay bathhouse raids in 1981 that saw police swarm into clubs where gay men were having open, consensual sex.

As much as the gay community was outraged by the "Gestapo" police, as gay rights activist George Hislop referred to them at the time, the public was equally shocked.

HEATED DEBATE

The raids prompted heated debate and self-examination about human rights and tolerance and the protests that erupted in response to the raids eventually gave way to Toronto's Pride Parade that sees the mayor, police chief and councillors participate.

"You look at the very few raids that have been done in places and so-called bathhouses in recent years so obviously there's a much more permissive attitude on the part of politicians. The public interest groups that support these places are much more vocal and politically connected," said Staff-Sgt. Al Verwey of 13 Division. "There is generally an attitude that if the public isn't complaining about it very loudly, the police aren't going to enforce it very rigorously."

There is some irony, then, in the city's current confrontation with swingers clubs.

"People always get bent out of shape when heterosexuals want to have sex, and I don't get that," said Peter Bochove, owner of gay bathhouse Excess Spa on Carlton St. and an activist in the 1981 raids. "If everyone going into this club knows exactly what they're going into and kids aren't walking by giant signs, then no one's being harmed."

Elizabeth Abbott, a celibacy history research associate at University of Toronto, describes Toronto as a "formerly repressed city" where the 1970s finally happened and many immigrants moved in.

People are gravitating towards swinging, Abbott notes, because there is too much stress on staying with one person and the element of curiosity is overpowering.

"The city isn't suspicious anymore, it rigorously loves diversity," she said. "We're a changed culture where it's now seen as wrong to criticize different lifestyles."

And the bottom line: Swingers clubs are legal.

LEGAL SINCE 2005

The Supreme Court of Canada made them so in 2005, ruling that two Montreal swingers clubs that allowed sex on the premises between consenting adults did not violate decency laws because it didn't harm society.

Club Wicked has a doorman who not only keeps out the young, impressionable and curious, but turns away those who don't meet the club's standards of physical attractiveness.

Aurora Benzion and her husband Shlomo told the Sunday Sun their club allows experienced, curious adults to indulge in sex with other couples in a safe environment. But at the same time, they've built a "positive" relationship with their community.

"It's better than a nightclub because they're not drug addicts or ... long lineups or people who make a lot of noise," Shlomo said.

Club Wicked evolved from the "sex mansion parties" the couple ran in 2003. They moved to a space at Richmond and Church Sts. a year later but found it too cramped and, in 2006, landed at Ossington Ave. and Queen St. W.

Their regulars come weekly from all over the GTA, Hamilton, Oakville and Niagara Falls. The owners boast 30,000 members on their website worldwide. Tourists from Boston, Chicago, Tampa and Germany have all come here to swap partners and the Benzions are organizing some buses from Michigan to come to Wicked.

"We're becoming a destination for liberated Americans," Aurora said. "I don't think they can find this kind of entertainment in their country anymore. Our clientele is very upscale."

The higher echelon of society -- lawyers and doctors -- as well as regular blue-collar folks can be found within the walls of Wicked on any given night. Though, to make it to the upstairs Shlomo's Penthouse area where all the naughty stuff goes on you have to fall into the Benzions' ideal of "fit and attractive."

"Going on the main floor doesn't give you entry to the penthouse," Shlomo said.

Those who fit the standard exchange their clothes for a towel and a key to a locker. Lingerie is also permitted. Riding a feverish wave of alcohol mixed in with hours of grinding with old and new partners on the dance floor downstairs has put them in the right mood. And when people get up to the on-premise VIP area, the inhibitions slide off with the towels.

Patrons walk down the hall past a giant lip-shaped couch to a rectangular area composed of several mattresses pushed together where at least a dozen couples can "play" together in a larger setting.

Aurora suggests swingers clubs are part of a trend that is seeing more people explore their sexuality. Many got into the "lifestyle" (although some prefer to be called "hedonists") because it allows them to explore their fantasies together without cheating.

"The younger people are less worried about what will people say," she said. "People who are over 40 want me to blur their faces if I take party pics of them but those in their 20s and 30s are fearless."

Ruthy Muller of Happy Hedonist and Club Prive, an off-premise Mississauga swingers club in business for the past 14 years, said that although swinging may be more popular, the number of swingers clubs in Toronto hasn't increased all that much.

An online search for such clubs in the area reveals about 27 but a number are transitory, opening and closing within months.

"The younger generation doesn't really need (clubs) because things are so open," Muller said.

Swinging legend has it that the lifestyle began during the World War II among the United States military. It was built on the idea that because of the high mortality rate of pilots, if they ever crashed, another pilot would care for his wife emotionally and sexually. In more recent decades, swinging came about with the sexual revolution.

But the traditional 1970s perception of "wife swapping" isn't what the clubs are about. Clients range from voyeurs and exhibitionists to those who have public sex with their partners or indulge in threesomes, foursomes or orgies.

Robert Pollara, "the new kid on the block" in the city's swinging scene, came from Florida to Toronto to open Menage a Quatre, another on-premise club, in June.

"I don't think anybody in the neighbourhood had any idea that we existed nor would they have until Mark Grimes got on TV and started ranting and raving," Pollara said. "I've been doing this for 10 years now and with the '90s and the help of the Internet, swinging really became pervasive."

"It hasn't gotten to the extent in Europe where there are 60 clubs, but the baby boomers have hit that point where they're looking for something more to do."

Swingers clubs follow a strict code, though it's not necessary under the Supreme Court decision. Discreet signage is more of a courtesy for the community.

SIGN WAIVER

The etiquette is that all play must be between consenting adults and a waiver is signed by all members coming to the on-premise area that they understand what the club is. The waiver also doubles as proof of membership in case any prostitution accusations arise.

"There's not very much the city can or should do," Excess bathhouse owner Bochove suggests, arguing the gay community experience shows the Supreme Court decision trumps anything municipalities can attempt to do, including public health inspections or zoning.

"But at least then people can sue the city," he said.

Even city officials have trouble with where the lines are.

Mark Dimuantes, Toronto's municipal licensing and standards senior policy officer, said swingers clubs don't require a licence but added "it probably wouldn't be a good idea for the city to licensed them because then they become an accepted land-use."

Brampton's Club Eros founder Ron Michaels, who operates the longestrunning swingers club in the country at 36 years and the third-longest in North America, suggests whether the city likes them or not, swingers are here to stay.

"It used to be more of an underground phenomenon," Michaels said. "I don't think there are any more swingers now than 20 or 30 years ago; they're just more open about it."

---

WHAT'S LEGAL AND NOT ...

BODY RUB PARLOURS

Legal, but ...

The city's municipal licensing and standards division said there are currently 25 body rub parlours that have operating licences. Both the owner and masseurs must have their own licences. Toronto Police said there must not be any prostitution on premises including topless, nude, bodyslide, reverse bodyslide, oral, intercourse or manual release. Massage room doors have to be unlocked.

STRIP CLUBS

Legal. Like body rub parlours both the owner/operator and dancers must have licences through MLS. If a dancer touches or allows a client to touch her -- even through clothing -- the dancer and establishment could both be charged under the bawdy house legislation. Municipal Licensing and Standards said the "lap dances can happen but there's not supposed to be any physical contact."

SWINGERS CLUBS

Legal. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada said activity at swingers clubs "can hardly be supposed to jeopardize a society as vigorous and tolerant as Canadian society."

Most club owners will keep a list of members and, be discreet with their storefront and make sure everyone who enters the club knows what they're getting into -- possible consensual sex behind closed doors.

GAY AND LESBIAN BATHHOUSES

Legal. Peter Bochove of Spa Excess won a court case against the city of Toronto in 1988 when he found out they weren't renewing leases for bathhouses. There are no restrictions in zoning because they're not classed as "adult entertainment" so the city leaves charges in the hands of police under the Criminal Code for lewd activity.

"We've had a tremendous amount of time in court and there's a lot of things that were done over the last 25 years," Bochove said. "What grey areas that remain are in the common bawdy house laws, which are on the books and it's still possible to go to court for those charges, but it's not going to go anywhere with the Supreme Court of Canada."

2008-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Disgraced doctor is T.O.'s Seduction Guru
Dimitri the Lover' stripped of medical licence in early '90s

JENNY YUEN
Sun Media

UPDATE (June 28, 2008): It is believed James Sears aka "Dimitri the Lover" is the voice on these answering machine messages in which he tries to set up a date with a women he briefly met. The messages were posted along with a video montage on YouTube and have quickly picked up in popularity on the site.

Click on the image below to listen to the messages

Please note: The photographs and images in this video do not depict James Sears.

A disgraced Toronto doctor who had his medical licence stripped for repeated sexual misconduct 16 years ago has hung out a new shingle: Sex guru.

"Dimitri the Lover" insists he can teach men who attend his Toronto Real Men meetings and workshops how to make women "worship" them.

Billing himself as the "World's Greatest Lover and Seducer," Dimitri boasts that even average Joes can learn to woo and "expertly pleasure" the opposite sex.

Toronto is home to several "seduction lairs" and there are dozens in major cities across the country.

Self-described gurus and pickup artists such as Dimitri have been around at least since the '70s, notably when Eric Weber's book How to Pick Up Girls became a bestseller and a hit movie.

In the late '90s Clifford Lee, a consummate networker, began his Cliff's List Seduction Letter as a central voice of the community.

INTERNET EXCHANGE

And most recently the se -duction community gained some publicity with The Game, a book written by journalist and pickup artist Neil Strauss (known in "the community" as "Style").

The Internet has allowed these women hunters to trade techniques, organize meetings, arrange to cruise for chicks and popularize their own jargon -- "negging," "sarging," "peacocking" and "wingman" to describe strategies, techniques and tactics intended to help them get wo -men into bed.

Frank B. Kermit, founder of the Toronto Seduction Lair -- one of the first groups in the city -- said dating gurus exist because men are too scared to approach women, especially in Toronto, which is known as a frigid city romance-wise.

Kermit, 34, who recently left the Lair to become a relationship guru, said it was frustrating being lumped into the same category as others.

"One of the good ways to find out if they're legitimate or not is to find out what their story of pain is," he said. "This industry attracts the worst type of people."

Although each guru's philosophy differs, they're all cashing in. Through seminars, boot camps, membership fees and merchandise, seduction gurus can make between $30,000 and $1 million a year.

And there appears to be no shortage of men willing to pay for the advice.

Upstairs at Rancho Relaxo, a Mexican restaurant and lounge on College Street, Dimitri in a bold pinstripe sport jacket and black jeans has a group of 15 guys sitting in a circle, talking about techniques and schemes to meet and sweet-talk a woman into bed.

"I'm not sure what my problem is," asks one guy. "I can't just go up to a woman and talk to her."

According to Dimit -ri, Canadian men suppress their natural sexuality because the media tells them that being assertive of "macho" is equal to being abusive.

He advocates a more "European" approach to picking up women.

Dimitri tells the guy that compliments are his best bet if he wants to land her in bed.

He's suddenly authoritative -- the way cops interrogate suspects.

"Smile and go up to a woman and tell her she's beautiful, make up some shit," he says. "I swear, when they start flipping their hair, you know you can hit on them."

Apparently grocery stores are a haven for loose and frustrated women, and babes in the city are a lot more uptight than suburban women.

His theme this month is cruising for women in the 905.

"Downtown Oakville is full of chicks," Dimitri says. Some of the guys have begun taking notes.

"Lots of nice cougars," he continues. "But the best is Oshawa Centre ... a lot of them work in the GM plant and they make really good money. They're not looking for sugar daddies."

'BEAUTIFUL AND EASY'

"In Newmarket, Upper Canada Mall," he says. "Beautiful and easy. Problem with 416 area code ... they all think we're Paul Bernardo until proven otherwise."

The most promiscuous women, according to Dimitri's website, are saleswomen (especially real estate agents), nannies, schoolteachers (especially elementary and early childhood education), nurses and lawyers (criminal and civil litigation in particular).

Dimitri charges $40 to attend one of his weekday meetings, $269 for an annual membership to his "lair" and as much as $2,997 plus GST for a two-day workshop advertised on his website, dimitrithelover.com, where "Dimitri The Lover creates a powerful identity for you that women will find irresistible."

In an e-mail to the Sun, Dimitri insists he's not in the guru business for the money.

"Men pay me thousands of dollars just to spend a day watching me seduce women, and I make loads of money in my full-time business, so money's not an issue.

Dimitri is associated with Trillium Mortgage Services Inc., a company in a strip mall on Consumers Rd., near the 401 and Victoria Park Ave.

He also founded the Second Opinion Medical-Legal Consultants Group Inc. in 1994, which says it provides forensic medical investigations into malpractice, sexual harassment and wrongfully accused cases.

"People do not understand the benign, positive, healthy nature of our meetings," he insisted to the Sun.

"I adore women," said his e-mail, in which he referred to his meetings as a "community Service" where he helps shy and sexually inhibited men meet and have relations with women.

His website suggests otherwise.

"Learn the secret physical, verbal and psychological techniques used by Dimitri the Lover to seduce, pleasure and sexually enslave women," says one of his program outlines.

Or this: "A man's 'basic operating system' is composed of 'rapist' and 'murderer' programs which have been hard-wired into his brain.

"If there were no laws within society, the man would be constantly jumping women on the street."

DESCRIBED AS 'SLUTS'

Women are repeatedly referred to as "sluts" and his website is filled with immature and juvenile sexual references and animations.

"I have no issues with co-operating in the writing of an article in that the Toronto Real Men have nothing to hide," Dimitri wrote in his e-mail to the Sun.

"Although I am a perverted sex pig, I am the most non-misogynistic man you will ever meet.

"Oh, and make sure to mention in your article that I am strikingly handsome, more charming than Barack Obama, exude a sensual aura, ... oh, and don't forget humble!"

University of Toronto feminist philosophy professor Amy Mullin said it's dangerous and unhealthy to buy into Dimitri's depiction of women as sluts.

"I thought it interesting that he claimed to be sexist but non-misogynist because he 'loved stimulating women's bodies and minds,' " Mullin said. "You need to think of women as more than instruments to your own pleasure, which he tended to reduce them to."

She also said that because women's pleasures differ from men's, "it strikes me as highly unlikely that someone following his methods and goal of "penetrating 10 new female orifices a month would be a good lover."

In his ads, Dimitri suggests his pickup and seduction techniques are medically sound.

"Combining his medical training with years of field research on the streets of Toronto, he has figured out a way in which to identify women who crave (sex)," states one of his blurbs.

"Dimitri The Lover is the ONLY pickup guru in the world WITH PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS TO BACK HIM UP who has conducted IN-FIELD MEDICAL RESEARCH ON SEDUCTION!!!" he proclaims in another.

However, his troubled past and medical credentials are hardly worth bragging about.

Dimitri the Lover's real name is James N. Sears.

Sears' childhood was hardly idyllic. One parent was abusive and alcoholic and the other struggled with mental illness, according to court transcripts and disciplinary records from Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Sears, as a child, was "subject to compulsive ritualistic behaviour and had developed an attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity," states a 1992 college record on sexual impropriety charges against him.

Sears was also exceptionally bright. He claims a 170 IQ.

He entered medical school at the University of Toronto in 1983. Within two years, at age 22, he came under scrutiny from psychiatrists for erratic behaviour.

By 1986, Sears was in the Canadian Armed Forces and while still a third-year medical student was evaluated by a military psychiatrist who suggested there was "something seriously wrong" with Sears.

He was shunned by fellow students because of his behaviour. A female officer complained he repeatedly tried to enter her room, and military police found "a can of Mace, several knives, two empty smoke grenade canisters and an electronic stun gun" in his room following an incident.

As a result of his antics, Sears had to repeat a year of medical school. Despite documented reservations, he graduated from U of T as a doctor in 1988.

During his internship at Doctors Hospital in Toronto, Sears skipped duties, drank while on call, indulged in "inappropriate self-use of prescription drugs," according to the College hearing record.

Sears was judged "immature" in a subsequent psychiatric assessment and it was noted he displayed "inappropriate behaviour towards female staff members," and was viewed by peers as "un -trustworthy, cynical and narcissistic."

He underwent psychotherapy and was admitted to Ottawa's National Defence Medical Centre in 1990 for evaluation and treatment.

There, "record was made of numerous, random and obsessive telephone calls to women during which he would sometimes masturbate," and evidence suggested "prescribable substance abuse," according to the College hearing records.

However, after a conclusion of "no clear evidence of major psychiatric illness," Sears was cleared to return to medical practice.

He apparently found military medicine boring, "which led to compulsive masturbation up to six times per day, which was accomplished by going off to the washroom in between patients," the records state.

Psychotherapy and pharmaceutical treatment was recommended, and Sears was transferred to Toronto to receive treatment at the Clarke Institute, but no grounds were seen to prevent him from continuing to work as a doctor.

James Sears' medical career began to fall apart in 1991, when the College of Physicians and Surgeons suspended his licence following complaints from female patients.

By late 1992, Sears would plead guilty to two counts of sexual assault and he would be stripped of his medical licence for sexual impropriety.

In court documents from his sentencing, Justice Hugh Locke stated Sears made unwanted "verbal sexual overtures" toward his patients and "sexually assaulted them by attempting to kiss and to embrace them," while on house calls.

"That unacceptable type of conduct was obviously terrifying to his victims," Justice Locke wrote.

By 1994, Sears was unemployed and his marriage had fallen apart.

APPEALED CONVICTION

However, he appealed the sexual assault charges against him, defended himself and was acquitted, subsequently stating his lawyers had "pressured" him into pleading guilty at the initial hearing.

Sears refused a request by the Sun to discuss the charges or allegations against him, saying they were a matter of public record.

Back at the lair meeting, Dimitri is bragging about his conquests.

"I drove up to Newmarket to get laid in a snowstorm because she was hot," Dimitri tells the guys.

"Took 45 minutes to get there, half hour to warm her up, an hour to service her, half hour so she didn't feel like she was used."

The guys in the room all laugh.

==

This story was done over a two-month period when I first passed by fliers on College St. screaming out, "Seduce Women Now!"

Japhet and I also collaborated on a post for our TnO section on BlogTO.
I think I sort of became obsessed with knowing exactly who this guy was when he wouldn't tell me his phone number and started using schemes and lines he taught us at the meeting to coerce me into calling him. So I did a bit of investigative work and found out - step by step- his cell, his identity, his past.

Crazy - I just checked out Google and someone made a Wikipedia post about him. Today's his birthday? How appropriate - on National Sex Day.

The last I heard he hired a film production company to make a documentary about him which the director called, "self-abusive." Apparently, he's making fun of himself a lot? I had no interest in being featured in it. But I suspect Mr. Sears is slightly embarrassed about the publicity but also probably enjoying the criticisms he's receiving worldwide from the YouTube video. He's smooth like that.

New resolutions...in August

2008-08-21T10:20:00.001-07:00

I have not been keeping up with this blog on a regular basis.
And I'm going to start doing my darndest to fix that. Just a brief update: Since January, I've been working part-time as a general assignment reporter at the Toronto Sun.
Since July, I've taken over Sarah Green's maternity leave and have been working full-time. Woot! Along with the job, I've acquired "the Blue Meanie," my new set of wheels. My only set of wheels, actually.

So I'm going to begin my first post off with two of my recent features: Dimitri the Lover and Legalized Swingers Clubs. Enjoy!

2007-10-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

This week, I did an update on the Matador situation at College and Dovercourt. While I don't doubt that parking is a problem there, that should be more an encouragement to hop on the 506 and use transit. But what is the TPA and the city advocating instead? Tear down a near century-old building and pave over it with a 20-space lot.

The Parking Authority has been known to many as a rogue agency, but it's ridiculous that it's taking precedence over the local councillor, Adam Giambrone, who seems to be backtracking on the project. City council wholeheartedly gave its support to the TPA to begin expropriating the lands and pointed out that the west-end YMCA needed the space for cars, even though its head office denies that claim.

We need more streetcar lines or more streetcars on the line, not more parking spaces that will hardly put a dent in the amount of traffic congestion found on that stretch of road. Giambrone is the area councillor, but also as the chair of the TTC, he should be lobby against more parking in his ward.

Photo from Melsky's Flickr

Deported Back to Closet?

2007-09-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

Leo Zuniga's time in Canada is ticking.

In this week's NOW, I wrote about how despite the fact that Zuniga is a strong contributor to the gay community and is terrified of going back to Mexico, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) denied him status on the grounds that there isn't a founded danger in him returning to his home country.

It's upsetting that the government rejects people who upstanding "citizens," who do community work, are strong leaders, who are working and are law-abiding and let everyone on the opposite spectrum take precedence. Even with the support of local groups and politicians.

The stats we cite in the article is even from the IRB:

A survey conducted in 2005 by the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminación, CONAPRED) and the Social Development Secretariat (Secretaría de Desarrollo Social, SEDESOL) indicated that 94.7 per cent of homosexuals interviewed suffered discrimination in Mexico (Mexico May 2005, 107), 71 per cent of the homosexuals said that the greatest hardship they faced was discrimination (ibid., 108), and 54.5 per cent felt rejected by society (ibid., 109)

The Citizen's Commission Against Hate Crimes (Comisión Ciudadana Contra los Crímenes de Odio por Homofobia, CCCCOH)citing reports from non-governmental organizations, stated that 15 homophobic or transphobic murders occur each month in Mexico (24 March 2005). Other sources estimated that between 100 and 180 homophobic killings take place each year in Mexico (Frontera.info 17 May 2006; CCCCOH 24 Mar. 2005; see also La Jornada 16 May 2005), placing Mexico second on the continent for homophobic murders (CCCCOH 24 March 2005). According to the CCCCOH, the majority of victims are men between 20 and 40 years old (CCCCOH 24 Mar. 2005). Most murders of homosexuals occurred in the Federal District, followed by the states of México, Veracrúz and Michoacán (Es Mas 17 May 2006)

And yet, it still concludes in its persuasive decision that Mexico is becoming more uppity with its gay humanitarian rights. Does any of this make sense?

Zuniga is still looking for a few good folks to support him. For more info on signing the petition to "Let Leo Stay," visit his Web site.

War Child's Camp Okutta Gives Kids AK-47s

2007-08-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

This week, I wrote a story about War Child's new campaign to bring awareness to kids being trained overseas to fight in wars.

I first heard about the news on the CBC, which reported a woman furiously tearing down many of the signs along Queen West. After interviewing some marketing experts and critics, I agree with the ones who said that the ad is definitely not clear enough. It should say at the very least that Camp Okutta is a War Child spoof. I get that you need something attention-grabbing for your audience, but unless you click on the "Where is Camp Okutta" link on the Web site, it doesn't give any indication that it's fictional.

A minor correction to my story, though: The YouTube video posted online doesn't depict children being drugged to combat homesickness. There is a video available online that does show a counsellor teaching the campers about landmines, though.

Nothing like Paris; Except for the Ad

2007-08-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

This week, I interviewed three different "marketing experts" on the city's ad campaign it unleashed back in January to several U.S. border city alt-weeklies. Yes, you may remember the Live With Culture ads.

Earlier this month, Paris released its own breed of ads -- one with a team of rugby players on the field with the frontmen embracing. The caption says, "Enjoy rugby in the capital of love." Bang! Hit the nail right on the head.

I didn't understand why these ads didn't work until one marketing expert, Sergio Meza, explained that it was because we were lying about our cultural aspects. We get that we're really "nothing like Hollywood, except for the film," but people in Rochester don't. And to them, we'd be a bunch of phonies.

That, and well, who doesn't like to see burly sports players making out?

Monkey See, Monkey Peek-A-Boo

2007-08-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I wrote a story in NOW about these mysterious monkeys on Cambridge Ave. (near Broadview and Danforth). Cute and cuddly, all 15 of them hung on hydro wires. I thought this might've been a recent thing, but to my surprise, they've been there for over two years. I'm glad some high school teachers -- namely, John Turner -- still have a sense of humour and playfulness.

The day the story goes to print, I get an early morning call from Turner. He tells me that the chimps are gone. Rogers came around and took them down. They didn't confiscate them, but the neighbourhood kids are upset about this. I feel awful. I mean, I had to call Rogers to get their view on this because it makes sense to add balance to the piece. And yet, I kinda wish I didn't. It was probably because I had brought this to their attention did they go and send the animals to monkey heaven.

Thankfully, Turner didn't sound angry about the incident and perhaps when the fire dies down, these elusive apes will make another appearance. There needs to be another zoo in the city, anyhow.

Photo: Devin Leslie