More than 40 years after sexually assaulting five young boys at every opportunity he had on his Montérégie farm, a farmer 66 years old sentenced to 14 years in prison.
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“The accused abused each victim whenever and wherever he could,” summarized Judge Joey Dubois Thursday morning at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse.
In 1980, Kenneth Marlin, then in his mid-twenties, began taking his two young neighbors to play or work at his farm in Hemmingford, near the American border, and even took them in to spend the night.
The boys aged 7 and 10 “had developed a friendship with the accused”, we read in the judgment.
But for the next three years, the accused touched them at every opportunity, whether at night or when they were in his truck.
“He targeted young boys who frequented his farm. The level of confidence and authority he possessed should not be underestimated,” said Judge Dubois.
Until 1991, Marlin sexually assaulted three other young boys on a regular basis. The accused was then perceived as “a father figure”, “a friend” or a “big brother”.
One of the victims worked on his farm during the summer, while the other two lived at his home or with immediate family all year round.
Sexual assaults, which ranged from touching to sexual relations, occurred daily in some cases.
Obsessed
At his trial, Kenneth Marlin was described as being “obsessed with abuse” and as “a monster” by the victims.
“He took full advantage of [mon] young age and [mon] innocence,” testified a man now in his fifties, who was sexually assaulted daily from the ages of 10 to 13 in the late 1980s.
In the 1990s, an investigation was opened into the abuse of the two young neighbors. Marlin then went to see another of the victims to ask him “not to tell the police what he had done to her”. No charges were brought against him at the time.
It was not until 2019 that the investigation resumed, following complaints from other victims, and he was finally charged.
Kenneth Marlin is also being sued by two victims for a total of $2.5 million.