(Montreal) The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) will appeal the decision of a judge of the Court of Quebec who granted conditional discharge to a resident of Gatineau who pleaded guilty to three counts of domestic violence.
Posted at 8:54 p.m.
“After notifying the victim, the DPCP confirms that it is appealing the sentence imposed on Joshua Schoo and that a notice of appeal has been filed today”, wrote on Twitter the spokesperson of the DPCP, Ms.e Audrey Roy-Cloutier, Thursday evening.
According to a judgment rendered on July 27, Gatineau resident Joshua Schoo admitted to having strangled, threatened and caused injuries to his spouse.
The events took place on March 6, 2021, when the couple had lived together for 17 years and had four children.
Joshua Schoo had started an extramarital relationship and had advised his wife to do the same, while he was looking for another place to live, according to the facts set out in the judgment.
However, when she told him that was the case, on March 6, 2021, he insulted her and threw things out of their house. He was drunk, it is said. Later that evening, he attempted to strangle her with his hands and a pillow.
The children witnessed the violence and their 13-year-old daughter called the police.
Judge Serge Laurin finally granted him a conditional discharge, specifying that it was “an isolated event during a 17-year marriage, that he was not involved in a pattern of domestic violence, but that this event affects the psychological health of (the victim) and his children”.
Joshua Schoo, who works for the City of Ottawa as a maintenance coordinator or team leader, depending on the season, risked losing his job if he had a criminal record.
This would have “a significant financial impact on his children, (the victim) and himself,” added Judge Laurin in his judgment written in English.
Also, the judge clarified that a criminal record would prevent Joshua Schoo “from visiting his sister in the United States and spending holidays there with his children. Moreover, it would prevent him from doing community work at his church according to his reverend. »
“The Court denounces the reprehensible behavior of Mr. Schoo described in the facts and the consequences on (the victim) and his children. The Court hopes that they will recover quickly,” the judgment reads.
The victim said in her testimony that she “thought she was going to die” when she saw her ex-spouse with the pillow, although she admitted “not having run out of air”.
Judge Laurin finally considered “that it is not in the public interest for Mr. Schoo to lose his job and not be able to provide for his family”. He therefore granted a conditional discharge, with three years’ probation and a ban on being in contact with the victim.
Last month, the DPCP also appealed a decision by Judge Matthieu Poliquin granting a conditional discharge to engineer Simon Houle after he pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault and voyeurism.