A manager of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions addicted to crack accused of having repeatedly harassed his ex would have reoffended when he had barely left the therapy to which he had been sent, rather than in prison, waiting of his trial.
Last year, Patrick Martial Hougni allegedly made his ex go through hell by contacting her repeatedly despite being banned.
He was due to return to court on Friday, but his appearance in court was moved to yesterday at the Longueuil courthouse, since he allegedly broke his conditions once again. This weekend, he allegedly lurked near his ex’s residence. He was forbidden to be within 500 meters of her.
The 42-year-old man had however promised on more than one occasion to leave her alone.
“Trust me! I promise you that it won’t happen again, I will keep my distance from her, I will never contact her again, that’s clear!”, he pleaded with the judge in the courtroom last July.
This time, he was arrested because the lady was allegedly bombarded with texts and calls. The accused is even suspected of having posed as a private detective and of having taken several images of her.
Closed therapy
The judge agreed to release him pending trial, saying he would give him another chance because of his lack of criminal record.
But the accused allegedly reoffended less than two months later. This was the fourth time he had violated his conditions in a few weeks.
Detained again, he once again managed to convince a magistrate not to send him back to prison, on condition that he seek treatment. He was then sent at the end of August to a closed center for drug addicts for six months.
Hougni would indeed be a fan of crack. His ex had discovered that he was using this drug in September 2022. He then adopted worrying behaviors, monitoring his comings and goings, spying on his emails and contacting his work colleagues, we summarized in court during a hearing.
Highly placed at the DPCP
Just a few days ago, the defendant left the therapy center. He then took the opportunity to go near his ex’s house last Saturday. He was charged again with breach of conditions and remained in custody.
Me Annabelle Racine, Crown prosecutor at the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, opposed his release.
It is a federal Crown lawyer who is responsible for this case since Mr. Hougni occupied at the time of his arrest a managerial position at the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), which authorizes and directs criminal prosecutions in Quebec.
He is not a lawyer, but rather serves as director of administrative services at the Serious Crime and Special Affairs Bureau.
He returns to court this Wednesday for his release investigation.