Teaching luminary Thierry Karsenti was found guilty of sexually touching a minor on Wednesday. The man entered the bedroom of an 11-year-old boy a dozen times in 2015 and slipped his hand into his underwear.
“Mr. Karsenti, I don’t believe your denials. I do not retain them and they do not raise a reasonable doubt, ”said Judge Ann-Marie Beauchemin, at the Longueuil courthouse.
“The Complainant is a credible young man and his allegations are credible and I accept them as true,” she continued.
During the trial held in March, the victim, now 18, said that Thierry Karsenti snuck into his room, asked him to lie on his stomach and stroked his buttocks, about ten of times. The 46-year-old then slipped his hand down his pants to caress his genitals.
“I didn’t do it”, repeated Thierry Karsenti many times during his testimony. His lawyer, Mr.e Clara Daviault, also tried to raise inconsistencies in the testimony of the young man.
“It is true that his testimony is not free from gaps and contradictions, I am aware of that,” said Judge Beauchemin when reading her judgment on Wednesday. “Having said that, I conclude that these shortcomings, even when considered cumulatively, do not irreparably impact the credibility of his allegations that you engaged in sexual touching against him. »
Thierry Karsenti was a professor of education sciences at the University of Montreal. He held the Canada Research Chair in Information and Communication Technologies. He directed the Interuniversity Research Center on Training and the Teaching Profession.
More details to come.