Vancouver hair removal tech pleads guilty to sexual assault and voyeurism

A Vancouver laser hair removal technician pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault and voyeurism in a Vancouver court Monday.

Ali Aghasardar was accused of inappropriately touching and photographing clients who purchased services at Dermabella Clinic located at Howe and Smithe streets in downtown Vancouver.

The matter will now proceed to sentencing.

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The Vancouver Police Department alerted the public about the investigation in early 2022, more than two years after the first young woman came forward to report what happened. Daily Hive spoke exclusively with her in 2022, when she detailed the frightening experience that haunts her years later.

She went to her school’s sexual assault centre for help in 2019, and with their assistance, brought the matter to police and the BC College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists. The college suspended Aghasardar’s registration in 2020 over the allegations.

She was shocked by the amount of time it took from reporting the incident to seeing charges laid.

There are several civil lawsuits against Aghasardar proceeding at the same time, where his former clients say the clinic breached its fiduciary duty by allowing him to continue working after the police investigation launched in 2019.

“It’s a distressing case,” lawyer Naz Kohan told Daily Hive last week. “He has a position of power. He was a laser technician. And we’re alleging he used this position to take photos of his client’s genital regions without their consent or knowledge.”