A professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Laval University arrested in August in connection with possession of child pornography pleaded guilty on Thursday to the charges against him.
• Read also: Laval University teacher accused of possession of child pornography
François Mathieu-Potvin admitted, before Judge Sarah-Julie Chicoine, having had in his possession more than sixty files, photos and videos, involving young girls aged 5 to 12, between 1er June and August 27, 2020.
“On some files, we see young girls from 5 to 12 years old committing sexual acts or even showing their undeveloped breasts,” said the prosecutor, Me Laura Plamondon-Dufour.
“On others, it is young girls under 10 who are attacked by adults”, she added, thus summarizing all the searches carried out on the computer and the laptop of the 36 year old man.
Reported by two escorts
Mathieu-Potvin also admitted to having communicated with a person to obtain sexual relations for consideration, on two occasions.
It is moreover the escorts contacted by the accused who made it possible to make the link between him and information obtained in January 2019 which mentioned that a “client was masturbating while watching children”.
One of the escorts told police that the accused said he had “an attraction to much younger girls” and offered to exchange child pornography.
To another, he recounted having a fantasy of “tying a young boy to a chair” so he could watch them have sex.
Following his arrest, Mathieu-Potvin made, according to the prosecutor, “half-confessions” to the police, however speaking of him in the third person.
Without antecedents
As the man has no previous record, his lawyer, Me Benoit Labrecque asked the court that a pre-sentence and sexological report be made to enlighten the court on the appropriate sentence.
The man who is still registered on the Université Laval website as an associate professor will return to court in February.