A former masseur in Victoria who was found guilty of sexually assaulting several women during therapeutic massages has convinced the Court of Appeal for British Columbia to order funding for his “complex” appeal against his conviction and two-year jail sentence, which is long enough to force his deportation to India at the end.

Ajesh Jacob, who was in his mid-30s at the time of the crimes, is currently in jail and does not have a lawyer.

In a recent ruling , B.C.’s top court said there is no “obvious error” in the trial judge’s sentencing decision. But Jacob’s appeal is not obviously doomed, and he has shown he cannot afford a lawyer, so it is “in the interests of justice to appoint counsel on his behalf.”

It will be a complicated file, involving alleged Charter violations of unreasona

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