Just recently appointed to the Court of Quebec, could judge Matthieu Poliquin really imagine that by granting conditional discharge to Simon Houle, an engineer from Trois-Rivières who pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault and voyeurism on a sleeping student, “the public would not lose faith in the credibility of the judicial system”? It’s hard to believe, but that’s what we read black on white in this bad judgment scandalously out of step with its time.
We would have liked to pastiche a decision dating from the pre-MeToo era that we could not have done better. Appointed by the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette – who, in a rare public outing, said he was “deeply shocked by [cette] sentencing decision” — Judge Poliquin lined up the clichés with bewildering casualness. In terms of law, the principles set out hold together, it is their analysis that is lacking. The indifference that Judge Poliquin shows vis-à-vis the victim contrasts with the magnanimity he shows vis-à-vis the accused. The whole oozes a flagrant imbalance that will not escape any “reasonable and informed person”, to use an expression he uses himself to justify his position.
The newly appointed judge does not deny that “the consequences of the crimes” on the victim “are significant”. Her consumption of alcohol and drugs increased, she experienced school failures, as well as a prolonged work stoppage which fueled financial difficulties for more than two years. Dark thoughts also led to his hospitalization in psychiatry.
To the accused, however, Judge Poliquin grants a number of virtues and mitigating circumstances. The actions that Simon Houle committed “are contextual and specific in his life”. The man comes from a “balanced” family, is educated, above all, he pursues “a positive and appropriate path”. The admission of a similar gesture towards another woman even earned him praise: rather than seeing the “recidivism” indicator light up, the judge welcomed a “desire for transparency”.
Detail which does not lack salt, if its decision is based first on the recent Gravel judgment, dating from 2018, certain passages drink in the ultra-mediatized judgment which led to the unconditional absolution of Gilbert Rozon, in 1999, after that he pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault. One thinks in particular of his reference to the “good character” of the accused or to the “punctual” nature of his actions, which are found almost identically. Another world, we said.
Aggression is reduced “to a victim and [à] a single event”, which took place “all in all quickly” while the assailant was under the influence of alcohol. We believe we are dreaming. Simon Houle still had time to take nine photos of his victim in two different places while undressing her and attacking her. We are not far from “twenty minutes of action”, this abject euphemism used by the father of the Stanford rapist to describe his crime against an unconscious young girl.
The analogy is not insignificant: to justify a light sentence of six months’ imprisonment which had caused a scandal, the American magistrate had explained that a heavier sentence could have had “a profound impact” on the future of the young man, who had shown “sincere remorse”. Judge Poliquin draws on a similar source by asserting that a criminal record would have “negative and disproportionate consequences” on the career of Simon Houle. This, even if he knows very well “that it must be admitted that imprisonment is the preferred sanction in this matter”, he writes.
Since the media coverage of this decision, a tsunami of angry reactions has swept over Quebec. Mr. Houle’s employer announced that he was terminating his employment relationship on Tuesday. The same day, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) declared his intention to appeal the case. It was the right thing to do.
Still, the harm done is already immense. This judgment is devastating for victims of sexual violence whose confidence in the legal system is already fragile. It is also for those who demand a fairer justice system, better adapted to the reality of victims. This will make a good textbook case to study for the courts specializing in sexual and domestic violence currently in pilot projects in six districts of Quebec. Their relevance seems all the more striking in the light of this judgment unworthy of a 2022 magistracy.
Finally, it will be remembered that the Legault government had announced training for lawyers and awareness raising for judges. Some 500 lawyers from the bar have already started or completed this training. The judges — we already have at least one name in mind — should follow it urgently. Such a denial of justice commands a deep leveling, and now.