A street gang relative who once survived a shooting has been convicted of pimping after putting his victim through hell for six months.
“The accused physically and psychologically forced her to give him the fruits of prostitution. It is reasonable to believe that she could fear for her safety, ”concluded Judge Louise Leduc on Friday at the Longueuil courthouse.
She found Bernardin Polynice, alias bin Laden, 38, guilty of 10 counts related to sexual exploitation.
These included threats, assault and human trafficking.
The criminal is well known to the police because of his links with street gangs of red allegiances in Montreal North.
Terror for six months
The alleged facts extended over six months, between April and September 2020, in Longueuil, Montreal and elsewhere in Canada.
Polynice then had a relationship with a thirty-year-old woman whose identity is protected by the Court who was already engaged in prostitution.
However, it was not long before the accused “encouraged” and “manipulated” the victim to convince her to hand over the management of her finances to him.
“He blamed her for a loss of earnings when she preferred to sleep rather than receive other clients,” said the magistrate.
Polynice even filmed himself on Snapchat pointing a gun at his sleeping victim.
During the trial, the young woman feared for her life so much that the authorities had to arrest her and detain her to testify in court.
“People who are victims of sexual assault and/or domestic violence do not react in one and the same way. The stereotyped expectations regarding the so-called normal and expected behavior of a plaintiff are now rejected and to be avoided,” however specified the judge.
She believed the complainant, who remained “consistent and consistent” in her allegations throughout the process.
“The judge very well identified the dynamics of sexual exploitation in this case,” commented Crown prosecutor Ève Malouin, satisfied with the verdict as she left the courtroom.
Not credible
Polynice’s testimony was rejected by the court, among other things because of its “lack of transparency” and its “selective memory”.
“He appears to dodge the most embarrassing questions for him,” said Judge Leduc.
Polynice drags a very heavy criminal past. In 2018, he was hit by two gunshots in downtown Montreal.
Arguments on Bernardin Polynice’s sentence are expected to take place in 2023.