A flight attendant who hoped to get off with a slap on the wrist after raping a drunk co-worker was instead given 30 months in jail, a judge ruled in a ruling that underscores the impact of such crimes on a victim.
“First, the victim reports that she was in a state of shock. Her depression prevented her from working for more than a year. When she returns, she feels ostracized by some of her colleagues, she understands that she is being blamed for having denounced her attacker rather than managing the situation between them, ”judge Marc-André Dagenais recently explained to the court. justice of Laval.
In front of him was Fabrice Thomas, a flight attendant who had raped her in 2018, during a drunken evening when he had promised to bring the victim home drunk.
Thomas had instead brought the woman to his home, in order to rape her without protection, and then dropped her off at his car.
“The victim struggles to grasp what really happened, but understands eventually that she was forced to have a full sexual relationship, explains the judge. A forensic examination confirms this. »
Consequences
The victim, who cannot be named by order of the court, quickly filed a complaint with the police. Her employer, who is not named in the decision, would then have taken measures so that she and the accused did not cross paths at work. Except that it is the rapist who has retained the most lucrative tasks.
“She mentions that to this day, three and a half years after the attack, she is still strongly affected by the situation at work,” the judge said.
The woman has since changed jobs, but fears that due to her repeated appearances at court, she may not be able to complete her training to keep her job.
Consequences… on him
The 41-year-old rapist hasn’t really had any lost wages. As a result of his guilt, he was kept ashore, but his base salary remained the same.
Arguing that he was the financial support of a child and his mother, he even hoped to get away with 90 days in prison on weekends. He has since remarried and is said to be involved in his church. “Regrets” which did not move the judge.
“The offender, when he testifies on this subject, quickly brings his remarks back to the consequences he himself suffers,” noted the magistrate.
Recalling the disastrous consequences that the crime had on the victim, the judge therefore ruled out the possibility that Thomas would get away with weekend prison and community work, as requested by the defense. Instead, he opted for the Crown’s suggestion, which proposed 30 months incarceration.
The flight attendant, who will have to reorient his career, will also be placed on the sex offenders register for 20 years.