The former journalist and former director of the Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM) Michel Venne was sentenced to six months in prison Tuesday morning for assault and sexual exploitation.
Venne’s case, convicted last June, was back at the Quebec courthouse on Tuesday.
The prosecutor of the DPCP Me Michel Bérubé and the lawyers of the former editorialist of Le Devoir asked the judge to endorse a common suggestion of imprisonment of six months less a day, firm.
Michel Venne, 61, should also be entered in the register of sex offenders for a period of 20 years according to the proposal of prosecutors.
Judge Stéphane Poulin accepted the suggestion of prosecutors, acknowledging that the life and career of the complainant had been “greatly affected”.
Michel Venne, handcuffed, took the road to detention under the eyes of his wife who accompanied him.
Call to come
Michel Venne’s lawyers have already filed an appeal over the summer, arguing that the judge had made several errors in his judgment. The latter had established that the accused’s testimony was “calculated”, lacking “frankness and transparency”.
It was confirmed in September that the Court of Appeal agreed to hear the case at a later date.
In this context, Me Nicholas Saint-Jacques confirmed that he would file a request for provisional release later in the day Tuesday while waiting for this new procedure to be heard.
The victim, documentary filmmaker and author Léa Clermont-Dion had said on social networks to be disappointed “at the idea that the procedures could be extended by a year”.
“I’m out of breath,” she said.
She was not present at the Quebec courthouse on Tuesday morning.
Minor at the time of the incident
The charges against Michel Venne date back to the summer of 2008, when he was working with Léa Clermont-Dion, intern at the INM and a minor at the time.
The accused had tried to put his hand in the panties of the young woman while he was accompanying her to her hotel. Venne had for his part pleaded the misunderstanding, saying instead to have put his hand on his shoulder.
During the guilty verdict last June, the victim, who requested the lifting of a publication ban on his identity in order to be able to express himself, had wished that “shame changes sides”.
More details to come.