Florent Francœur, ex-CEO of the Order of Certified Human Resources Advisors, did he sexually assault a vulnerable resident of a CHSLD during the pandemic? The defense maintains he was removing the woman’s diaper, while the Crown claims he was instead caught in the act by a nursing assistant.
“His account was unequivocal. She was very clear that she saw both hands [de l’accusé] on the genitals. His view was unobstructed,” Crown Prosecutor M.e Charles Doucet at the 64-year-old man’s sexual assault trial at the Montreal courthouse. According to the Crown, the accused changed his version during his testimony on Monday.
Hired at the start of the pandemic as part of the “I contribute” campaign, Florent Francœur worked as a “service aide” at the CHSLD Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, in the north of Montreal. He is accused of having sexually assaulted a resident suffering from severe cognitive impairment and unable to speak during his shift.
The Crown’s evidence is based on the account of Lucretia Rosean, a nursing assistant who had cared for the complainant for five years. Until August 2, 2020, she had never seen Florent Francœur. That day, she noticed that the accused had entered the complainant’s room several times “without cause”.
She testified on Monday that she went to the bedroom when she saw the accused lock himself in, when the complainant had not rung the bell. At the moment of intervening, she felt that her “heart” was going to go out. She claims to have seen the hands of Florent Francœur placed on the genitals of the complainant, naked. There was no sheet or diaper on the bed.
“She never contradicted herself on what she saw, which is extremely striking. His view was unobstructed. She could see. It is indisputable. His reaction, it is spontaneous, it is immediate. She sees [et dit] : “I call the police”, because they see a gesture which is criminal”, pleaded Me Doucet, who adds that the practical nurse had no “oblique motive” for inventing such a story.
In the eyes of the defence, the auxiliary nurse was on the contrary “obsessed” with her role of protection and in a state of “advanced nervousness”, to the point of not being able to “notice” the situation. What she saw was “clearly tinted” by the “background noise” about Florent Francœur, pleaded Me Lucie Joncas, from the defence.
The testimony of Florent Francœur was “detailed, reliable, credible” and of “irreproachable frankness”, affirmed Mr.e Joncas. On Monday, the accused said he entered the room at the start of his rounds when he saw the complainant changing her diaper. His only intention was to pick up the diaper. However, a “Velcro” of the diaper remained stuck on the complainant’s body. He was thus trying to remove this “Velcro” when the auxiliary nurse arrived.
The Crown prosecutor replied that the nursing assistant would certainly have seen the diaper if the accused had it with him at the time of the events. In addition, the prosecutor notes that Florent Francœur moved the location of the “famous Velcro” during his testimony. Indeed, the accused first said that it was glued to the “side of the thigh” of the complainant, then indicated that it was located at the “lower back”.
To demonstrate the “evolving” nature of the accused’s testimony, Ms.e Doucet noted the fact that the complainant’s room had become “dark” during the cross-examination, when it was noon hour in August. “He was arguing, he had an answer to everything,” pleaded Me Sweet.
The prosecutor also mentioned the “contemptuous way” of the accused to nickname the complainant “the Queen of the bell”, a woman yet “extremely vulnerable”. He also noted that Florent Francœur indicated that the complainant could have “screamed” if he had assaulted her. “We fall into the old stereotypes,” said Me Sweet.
Leader of the Order of Certified Human Resources Advisors for two decades, Florent Francœur was expelled from his order for life in 2018 for having intimate relationships with several employees under his supervision. He sometimes had sexual relations with women in his workplace.
Judge Martin Chalifour will render his decision next March.