Réjean Bacon personified Santa Claus for 41 years in Petit-Champlain, Quebec. Today, the septuagenarian has fallen from his throne to land on the dock: he faces justice in connection with various offenses of a sexual nature and narcotics.
The 71-year-old man appeared Wednesday at the Quebec City courthouse on charges of voyeurism, sexual assault, drug possession and trafficking, breach of recognizance and obtaining sexual services.
The Sûreté du Québec had arrested the accused for the first time in May, before releasing him on condition. The search of his home had made it possible to recover computer equipment whose content, after analysis, led to the filing of charges for sexual assaults committed against five young women.
Police arrested Réjean Bacon again on Wednesday, this time with 10 charges to file against him.
Justice accuses him of having sexually assaulted two women between January 2015 and June 2021 and who were aged 18 and 25 at the start of the crimes. Réjean Bacon also faces charges related to the possession and trafficking of narcotics, including Oxycodone, a powerful opioid, and GHB, commonly known as the “date-rape drug”.
The Crown filed another count of “sexually assaulting multiple females.” The exact number of victims remains unknown, but none of them would have been minors at the time of the events.
Réjean Bacon faces two charges of voyeurism for having obtained video material without the knowledge of two alleged victims. Mr. Bacon also allegedly requested sexual services from one of his victims in return for payment.
Réjean Bacon had expressed his disappointment in the media when his animation contract in the Petit-Champlain had ended, in the fall of 2021. He had taken out his Santa Claus uniform to animate the holiday season at Woodooliparc, in Beauce. On his Facebook page, the accused was still looking, on October 17, for “a sleigh or a throne for his exterior decor. »
The fallen Santa Claus remains, for the moment, behind bars. The Crown opposes his release: his return to court is due on November 2.