A security installation specialist who filmed his sexual intercourse with a visually impaired man he met in a bar got away with no criminal record, while his victim continues to live in fear that the footage will be leaked online.
“[La victime] fears that his colleagues and his employer will be confronted with this video footage, [elle] who works in a rather conservative environment”, recently recognized Judge Benoit Gagnon in a decision rendered at the Sherbrooke courthouse.
But despite the “very real” impacts, and even if the victim’s confidence was badly damaged, this did not justify Danny Lambert receiving a criminal record for his crime committed in June 2021, ruled the magistrate.
At the time, the 36-year-old defendant had installed a continuous camera system at his home. Up to five people had access to the images, and sometimes his sexual antics were broadcast, with the consent of his partner.
However, the evening when he brought home a person suffering from visual impairment, he did not see fit to warn him.
“The victim does not immediately realize that a camera has filmed their sexual activities, indicates the judgment. It is only in the morning, when he is getting dressed, that the victim notices the presence of a camera.
A coward”
Faced with the situation, Lambert preferred to deny everything, even if the victim just wanted to make sure that the images had been erased. The latter then went to the police station, to face an officer who seemed uninterested in the story before investigators took it seriously.
But even questioned by the police, Lambert continued to deny, playing on the visual impairment of the victim to try to get by.
“To cast doubt on what the victim had seen, given his visual impairment, is cowardly behavior, noted the judge. Trying to dissuade the authorities from continuing their investigation by relying on the vulnerability of the victim is a reprehensible gesture.
little empathy
Guilty of voyeurism and making intimate images available without consent, Lambert does not appear to have developed “deep empathy” for the victim, although he said he was sorry for his actions while acknowledging the impacts he caused. He also went through a therapeutic journey, the judge noted.
So, despite his crime, Lambert was granted discharge, conditional on three years’ probation and 200 hours of community service. He will also have to donate $500 to the Crime Victims Assistance Center in Estrie.
“Community service here represents a denunciatory and dissuasive modality without jeopardizing the offender’s employment and social reintegration,” concluded the judge.
The Crown, for its part, demanded the imposition of a criminal record.