Simon Houle, the former engineer convicted of sexual assault and voyeurism, is removed from the Order of Engineers of Quebec for two years.
In a decision taken on September 18, the Disciplinary Council of the Order of Engineers of Quebec unanimously declared that Simon Houle had deviated from five counts of violation of the Professional Code.
Since he had not re-registered on the roll of the Order of Engineers, Simon Houle was no longer on the roll since April 27, 2023. His 24-month removal will therefore apply from the date of his re-registration on the roll. table of the Order, if applicable.
According to the decision, Simon Houle notably did not indicate in his declaration to the Order that he was subject to prosecution and judgment for criminal offenses punishable by five years of imprisonment or more, when registering. on the roll of the Order in 2021 and 2022.
The man also committed “an act derogatory to the honor and dignity of the profession by grabbing from behind the buttock of a young woman he met during a trip to Cuba,” according to the document.
A highly publicized affair
“The Simon Houle affair” sowed controversy in the summer of 2023 when the ex-engineer received a conditional discharge, a very mild sentence, despite the seriousness of his crimes. The Court of Appeal overturned this decision, which had sparked widespread criticism, by imposing a 12-month prison sentence on Simon Houle last January.
The ex-engineer then obtained his conditional release in May 2023 after three months behind bars. He also admitted to having a “sexual problem”.
Simon Houle sexually assaulted a friend during a party in April 2019. The woman woke up, dazzled by the light of a device. Simon Houle was then inserting his fingers into the victim’s vagina in a back and forth motion. The woman’s camisole was up and her bra was undone.
The victim took refuge in the kitchen, but Simon Houle showed “relentlessness” by photographing her private parts nine times in two places in the apartment. Simon Houle had kept his photos for a long time and had shown them to a friend, an aggravating factor, according to the Court of Appeal.
After obtaining absolution, Simon Houle violated the conditions of his probation by attacking a woman during a trip to Cuba in the summer of 2022. He was sentenced to community service last month in Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
With Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press