A former professor and former research chair at the University of Montreal, described as the “queen of sadomasochism”, faces two years in prison for having destroyed the career of an ex-lover by portraying him publicly as a violent sexual predator, under the guise of the #metoo movement.
Posted at 5:15 p.m.
Ann Letellier was found guilty by a jury of two counts of criminal harassment and extortion last March at the Sorel-Tracy courthouse. The trial of the 57-year-old university researcher immersed the jurors in a quasi-porn movie by detailing for days the particularly daring sexual practices of the two former lovers.
” [La victime] described her as the queen of sadomasochism with things never seen before like fruits and vegetables,” defense attorney Ms.and Alexandra Longueville, Wednesday, during sentencing submissions. The defense is asking for a suspended sentence, while the Crown is suggesting a two-year prison sentence.
A few years after the end of their extramarital relationship of twenty years, Ann Letellier launched in 2018 and 2019 a smear campaign against her ex-lover, an employee of the University of Montreal whose identity is protected by court order.
In addition to multiplying the complaints against the victim, Ann Letellier sent to around thirty people a long letter in which she alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by the victim. The researcher with a 140-page CV painted an extremely dark and defamatory portrait of her ex-lover by depicting him, among other things, as a pedophile.
However, Ann Letellier completely invented these sexual assaults to destroy the career of her ex-lover, insisted the Crown prosecutor, Ms.and Genevieve Beaudin. “When she says she was the victim for 20 years, I submit to you that she is lying to you and that she has no credibility,” she pleaded. “His testimony was totally implausible,” added the prosecutor.
The “planned and premeditated” harassment led by Ann Letellier had “exceedingly significant” and “devastating” effects on the victim’s life, which still persist today, argued Ms.and Beaudin. The man was thus wrongly labeled as a sexual aggressor in the context of the #metoo denunciation movement.
Judge Hélène di Salvo also wondered during the hearing if Ann Letellier had “used the #metoo movement to scare” the victim.
Moreover, adds the Crown, the victim was somehow tried for sexual assault as part of the accused’s harassment trial. “I had to warn the jury that this is not Mr.’s trial,” said Judge Di Salvo.
The victim indeed had to explain himself for days on very intimate details of the innumerable sexual scenarios shared by the lovers for 20 years, for example a scenario of “gardener” or Santa Claus.
Ann Letellier’s crimes could earn her a three-year prison sentence, according to Ms.and Beaudin. If the Crown is only asking for two years, it is to allow the victim to obtain “longer protection” through the imposition of three-year probation and a contact ban. In any case, the sentence should not be less than 18 months, believes Mand Beaudin.
Not a “Machiavellian plan”, according to the defense
The defense painted a portrait at odds with the accused, suggesting that Ann Letellier was indeed a victim of sexual assault. It is thus “dangerous” for the Court to conclude that Ann Letellier “consented to each of the extremely specific sexual activities that have been described”, argued Ms.and Longueville.
“We don’t put on this kind of Hollywood film for no reason. Why would this sane woman decide to make this plan? […] That Madame made a Machiavellian plan and was never attacked, the shoe pinches there,” raised the defense lawyer, insisting that the accused had “no motive” to get away with it. take from the victim.
According to the defense, Ann Letellier does not deserve a prison sentence, but a simple reprieve, given the many mitigating factors, such as her lack of risk of recidivism and her major depression at the time of the events. In addition, she was fired from the University of Montreal, said Ms.and Longueville.
Joined by The Pressthe University of Montreal refused to confirm whether the accused was still working for the establishment and when she would have lost her job.
The judge will hand down the sentence on June 21.