Singer and actor Luck Mervil pleaded not guilty Monday at the Rimouski courthouse to one count of sexual assault.
Present by videoconference, the singer’s lawyer, Anne-Marie Drouin, also indicated that her client wanted a trial before judge alone, thus ruling out the option of presenting this case before judge and jury. The date of this trial has not yet been determined.
Last November, Luck Mervil was arrested by law enforcement in connection with one count of sexual assault which allegedly occurred on the night of June 23 to 24, 2000 in Rimouski. The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was an adult at the time of the events. The accused is now 56 years old.
This case will return to court at the Rimouski courthouse on April 22.
Previous legal disputes
Lucknerson Mervil, his real name, is not in his first encounters with the law in connection with crimes of a sexual nature. In 2014, he was arrested and accused of sexually assaulting and touching a 17-year-old girl. The alleged actions took place in 1996 in Montreal, when he was 28 years old. These charges were then amended shortly before the trial to two counts of sexual exploitation.
In May 2018, Luck Mervil was sentenced to six months in home confinement after pleading guilty to one count of sexual exploitation, namely having sexual contact with a teenage girl with whom he was in a situation of authority. His name has since been included in the National Sex Offender Registry and will remain there for 20 years.
To watch on video