Warning: This story contains explicit details of sexual assault.
On two separate occasions in 2020, Tony Sfeir tricked two men into believing they were talking to a woman online, and invited them over to his Toronto home to have anonymous sex through a hole in a sheet hanging in a doorway.
The ruse came to an end when the second man pulled the sheet down to find Sfeir cowering on the ground in a black wig, and he was later arrested.
Ontario Court Justice Cathy Mocha convicted the 33-year-old of two counts of sexual assault, given that the victims had been misled about the identity of their sexual partner. On Friday, she sentenced him to 28 months in prison — 14 months for each count. He’ll also be on the sex offenders registry for the next 10 years.
“It is the violation of personal integrity and the negating of the victims’ right of self-determination that makes these offences serious,” Mocha said.
Sfeir will be seeking his release on bail pending the outcome of his appeal of Mocha’s decision, his lawyer told the Star. “He maintains that he was wrongfully convicted and that his convictions rested on legal error,” Bryan Badali said.
In her previous decision convicting Sfeir last September, Mocha found that the two victims believed they were talking online with a woman and were going over to her home for a “glory hole scenario,” that is, a hole in a wall — or other material — through which people can engage in typically anonymous sex.
As instructed, the victims walked into the home and put their penises inside a hole in a sheet hanging in a doorway. Oral sex was performed, and then it became penetration without warning, which both victims believed was anal. Their identities are covered by a standard publication ban.
Mocha rejected Sfeir’s testimony that the men were in fact communicating with a woman named “Angela,” who he said had access to his home. The judge concluded that “Angela” was a fictitious person created by Sfeir.
In her sentencing decision Friday, Mocha found that there was “no evidence of real remorse or appreciation of harm done” on Sfeir’s part and that his offences involved a fair degree of planning.
“The method he used of the glory hole, using a wig, telling the victims they had to be quiet so he wouldn’t have to speak to them — all helped to maintain the illusion that he created in his communications that the victims were engaging with a woman,” the judge said.
The two victims now question their judgement and feel self-doubt and guilt, Mocha said.
“As with most victims of sexual assault, they wonder if they are somehow at fault for what happened or could have done more to prevent it,” she said. “They feel shame and are unable to confide in those close to them.”
Court heard that Sfeir has no prior criminal record, volunteers with his church, and provides financial support to his parents in Lebanon. He came to Canada over a decade ago to become a pilot.
Crown attorney Heather Keating had pushed for a sentence of 18 months on each count, while Badali asked that Sfeir receive a conditional sentence — which is served in the community and typically involves house arrest. Alternatively, he asked for a jail sentence of three to six months on each count.
Badali had suggested that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic led to poor decision-making by Sfeir, but Mocha said there was no evidence of that.
“Many people during the pandemic had difficulty making personal connections and were creative in how they dealt with it,” Mocha said.
“Mr. Sfeir is here because he committed criminal offences that negated the ability of the victims to choose how and who they engaged with.”