“Chemical submission” is at the heart of the sordid trial related to the “Mazan rapes” in France. While the crime of using a substance to facilitate sexual assault is not known by that term here, it does exist under other names. Described as a scourge, it has caused enough concern to prompt Quebec to establish a special project this year aimed at helping victims and preserving evidence that they were drugged without their knowledge.
Before the Avignon court, Dominique Pelicot is accused in particular of having drugged his ex-wife, Gisèle, and of having given her to around fifty men who allegedly raped her repeatedly while she was unconscious, over a period of around 10 years.
One of the charges is described in French media as a “chemical submission” offense. The French penal code prohibits “administering to a person, without their knowledge, a substance likely to impair their judgment or control of their actions in order to commit rape or sexual assault against them.” The crime is punishable by five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros ($112,000) — and even more if the victim is under 15.
In Canada, this crime is found in section 246(b) of the Criminal Code, which prohibits “overcoming the resistance” of a person to commit a crime, such as sexual assault, by administering to them “a drug, substance or thing that is narcotic or soporific.” This crime is punishable by life in prison.
On the Quebec side, instead of “chemical submission,” we commonly hear that the attackers used “date rape drugs.” GHB is often mentioned, but they also use other substances.
Hard to quantify
The extent of the phenomenon is, however, difficult to quantify.
This is because many victims do not go to the hospital or report it to the police. They — most often young women — often have no memory of what happened, having lost consciousness, but may feel various physical discomforts or have the impression of being disoriented. Even when they suspect that GHB was poured into their drink (colorless and odorless, it easily goes unnoticed), they do not know who the culprit is when the events take place in a packed bar. And if they go for tests to see if they have been drugged without their knowledge, it is sometimes too late to detect the substances: some are quickly eliminated from the body, without leaving a trace.
The Montreal Police Department (SPVM) records the number of sexual assaults committed in its territory, but does not separately count cases where a drug was used to facilitate the crime.
Drugs used, but assault avoided
There are also all the episodes where there were drugs, but no assault. This is the case when friends were vigilant and brought the victim home when she started to stagger.
In June 2023, Quebec Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel announced the implementation of a series of measures related to the fight against date rape drugs, following several high-profile cases.
This is how the “trajectory project” was born in December, which aims to help victims receive the care and assistance they need, explained in an interview Inspector James Paixao, responsible for the initiative within the SPVM.
The project targets cases where victims were drugged without their knowledge and there was no subsequent assault.
All hospitals in Quebec now have kits to test the urine of victims. They must go to the hospital within 48 hours of ingesting a suspected drug. The tests can detect some 200 substances that can be used to render a person unconscious, the inspector said.
With the person’s consent, the hospital will contact their local police department, which will follow up. Police can investigate without the test results, but they “provide an additional piece of evidence,” Inspector Paixao said.
And the project compiles the data, freshly revealed here.
For the period from 1er January to July 31, 2024, 65 investigation files were opened by the SPVM for people who had been drugged without their knowledge — this total excludes cases where a sexual assault was committed, which are counted separately. Since these 65 cases are recent, the inspector could not say how many of them had led to the laying of charges.
A summit in 2019
But data from January 2019 to May 2024 from the office of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) provides some insight into the issue.
In five and a half years, 180 charges have been filed by the DPCP under section 246 b). However, this does not mean 180 accused, because some have had more than one victim.
Over this period, 2019 had the highest number of charges, at 75. They are largely due to the 69 filed in Gatineau, notably against Michel Giroux and his accomplices.
In 2018, Giroux was active in Outaouais, where he sexually assaulted at least seven women he met on online dating networks. He had previously administered the “date rape drug” to them. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Montrealer Samuel Moderie, nicknamed the “Tinder rapist,” adopted a similar modus operandi, but he also filmed his attacks. Last year, he pleaded guilty to 24 counts for what he did to 13 victims after drugging them. As in the case of Gisèle Pelicot, it was by viewing images recovered from a cell phone and computer equipment that investigators became aware of the extent of the crimes. No Quebec cases listed by The Duty does not approach the Pelicot affair, which sadly stands out in particular because of the number of alleged attackers.
And while sexual assaults seem to be the goal of those who drug their victims without their knowledge, other crimes have been recorded, including those of the “chocolate thief.” Hamid Chekakri targeted seniors in Quebec who had put their homes up for sale, made an offer to purchase and offered them chocolates to celebrate the transaction. Except that these chocolates were laced with narcotics. Once his victims were unconscious, he stole their money and personal property — crimes for which he received an eight-year prison sentence.