Here are some of the current legal issues, in matters of sexual assault, which marked 2021. Several public figures have thus made the headlines.
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Michel Venne brings his verdict on appeal
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
The court did not believe the version offered by the former columnist of the Duty and former director of the Institut du Nouveau Monde. Michel Venne was convicted in June of assault and sexual exploitation against documentary filmmaker and author Léa Clermont-Dion when she was a teenager.
Commonly, the lawyers suggested that the judge impose a six-month prison term on the former journalist.
The latter, however, quickly regained his freedom since his judgment was appealed by his lawyers. Michel Venne’s case could therefore resurface in the fall of 2022 before the Court of Appeal.
The pastor flees justice
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
2021 has been a difficult year for the couple of Paul and Carmen Mukendi. After seeing the Court of Appeal uphold the eight-year sentence imposed on the pastor convicted of sexual assault on a minor, the clergyman fled the country, leaving his wife and children behind.
In December, in his absence and following a trial, a judge of the Court of Quebec found Mukendi guilty of sexual assault against a second victim and he was sentenced to a period of imprisonment. two years, consecutive to any other sentence.
Along with these files, the one that many call “Maman Carmen” was accused of having harassed the second victim of her spouse and of having published or disseminated the identity of this victim.
In an interview last week with a correspondent for the QMI Agency in Congo, where he fled, Mukendi said there was no question for him to return to Quebec to face justice. Mukendi has a good game, the Congo and Canada do not have an extradition treaty.
An incredible outcome
Found guilty of sexually assaulting author Jill Côté in 2014, publisher Michel Brûlé was to know his sentence in May 2021. The latter, who was then visiting his brother in Brazil, did not show up. before Judge Sébastien Proulx.
Six days later, Brazilian media reported the tragic death of the 56-year-old man, which occurred while cycling in the town of Guarapari.
Unable to obtain “official” confirmation of the publisher’s death, the representative of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions has stepped up efforts. In early November, she obtained the death certificate signed by a medical examiner, the body identification report and the death declaration produced by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, after which the judge issued a judgment. proceedings thus putting an end to a legal saga that lasted several months.
A long saga smiles on the victim
The past year has brought immense relief to Stéphanie Raymond when she heard the court pronounce a six-month prison sentence on former Warrant Officer André Gagnon, thus ending a saga that has staggered. over ten years.
Absent during the reading of the sentence “for fear of being disappointed”, the young woman however said she was “very happy” with this conclusion after Gagnon had pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault.
For her, the sentence mattered less than the written judgment which “will leave a mark” for other victims.
Recall that at the beginning of November, the highest prosecutors and military police officers declared that henceforth, the cases of sexual misconduct listed within the Forces would be transferred to the civilian authorities.
The world of freestyle skiing in a state of shock
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
The ski world took a shockwave when one of the pioneers of freestyle skiing, Dominique Laroche, was formally charged with sexual assault, sexual contact and invitation to sexual touching of a minor , in addition to sexual contact and invitation to sexual touching, while in a position of authority.
Very few details have filtered out since his arrest and the 60-year-old will be back in court at the end of January for further proceedings.
A photographer from embarrassed celebrities
File photo, Stevens Leblanc
Photographer Roland Lachance, who is also known under the name of “Roland de Québec”, had a particularly trying 2021 since he underwent two trials in connection with acts of a sexual nature allegedly committed against two alleged victims.
The first acts alleged against the 89-year-old man who, over the decades, has accumulated thousands of pictures ranging from Elvis Presley to Celine Dion would have occurred in the late 1970s when the last would have took place in the 1990s.
In general, the octogenarian denied the alleged actions, admitting only lip service to certain behaviors. In both cases, the judgments will be rendered in the course of 2022.
From “mentor” to accused
While his trial was taking place at the Thetford Mines courthouse for touching and sexual assault, businessman and car collector Roger Demers was arrested again and charged with sexual assault against another complainant.
In the first case, the 61-year-old man is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2017, while in the second, the alleged acts allegedly occurred between October 2014 and June 2017 against him. a female victim in her thirties.
The legal saga of someone who claims to have acted as a “mentor” to his alleged victims will continue in 2022.
A hope Olympic sinks
High-level gymnast and photographer Thierry Pellerin saw his court case swell with new charges in 2021.
He was previously charged with luring a person under the age of 18, encouraging sexual touching and producing child pornography. New charges of voyeurism and the production and possession of child pornography were added last January.
Since then, the 24-year-old’s case has come back to court about fifteen times. According to court records, the fallen young athlete is expected to be back in January to make his position known.