A pastor who martyred his eight children in the name of God for 25 years will have to remain behind bars for a few more months. Sentenced to five years in prison in May 2021, Mario Monette continues to justify his crimes with passages from the Bible.
“You minimize, trivialize and justify the alleged acts against [X]. Your thoughts and beliefs remain rigid, and you do not show empathy towards the victims,” the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) concluded on Tuesday, refusing to grant the 67-year-old man day parole or full parole.
Mario Monette and his wife Carole Van Houtte Monette (sentenced to four years in prison) put their children through a real ordeal for two decades. In the 1980s, Mario Monette was a pastor at the South Metropolitan Biblical Baptist Church on the South Shore of Montreal. In his sermons, he encouraged his followers to correct their children with a “rod”.
A climate of terror reigned in the pastor. Mario Monette beat his children with paint sticks, wooden spoons, blind rods or belts. Children received five to ten blows on the buttocks, depending on their age, for the slightest breach of the strict rules. Sometimes the stick would break from the force of the blows. A 13-year-old daughter of the couple received 150 sticks for having seen a boy in secret.
The couple’s eldest son, who was the child beaten most often, was even confined for months in the garage of the house. Other children were put on a bread and water diet in their rooms. Nevertheless, some children, now adults, continue to defend their father.
According to a psychological report, Mario Monette has narcissistic personality disorder. His risk of recidivism is considered low, but rather “moderate”, according to his case management worker (CMT). The latter believes that “caution” must be in order, since former followers of the offender have reported cases of manipulation, abusive control and threats of damnation.
The 18 months spent behind bars do not seem to have transformed the fallen pastor. Questioned by his EGC, Mario Monette took refuge behind passages from the Bible to explain his actions. During a meeting with another worker, who observed “no progress” in the offender, Mario Monette maintained that his right to belief was not respected.
“You later admitted in court that you had misapplied biblical teachings, and that you had been excessive,” noted the PBC.
Nevertheless, the commissioners consider it “worrying” that Mario Monette did not begin any work on himself during his detention. “You are looking to protect your image instead of working to understand why you were so violent for such a long time,” the PBC concluded.
Note that Carole Van Houtte Monette is already on parole.