A woman whose testimony against her alleged attacker spanned five weeks says she is devastated by the sudden halt in the criminal trial following a police blunder.
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“I really felt abandoned. You have to fight for everything, and there you have to start all over again,” complains Johanie Bellemare St-Georges.
On November 30, the prosecution requested a stay of proceedings at the jury trial of his alleged assailant, Daniel Laframboise, which had been going on since September at the Rouyn-Noranda courthouse.
This decision had a shock effect in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where local media have followed the case since the arrest of the 54-year-old man. He faced six counts, including sexual assault with bodily harm.
Three complainants appeared in the file, but one of them lost her life during the proceedings.
The other cannot be identified under a court order. Ms. Bellemare St-Georges for her part had the publication ban on her identity lifted.
Screenshot TVA News
Daniel Laframboise, accused.
Invented characters
The 38-year-old woman would have lived through hell for 11 years, between 2007 and 2018, under the yoke of the man who would have hosted her in her family home, when she was going through a difficult period.
According to the lawsuit’s theory, Laframboise would have manipulated his victims, among other things, from several invented characters who sent them thousands of emails, encouraging them to maintain BDSM rites with him (bondage and discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism).
“Since I denounced, I have suffered four and a half years of legal trauma. Then now, that, ”drops the plaintiff, shaken by the judgment of the trial.
Missing evidence
An error by an investigator in the file would be at the origin of this abrupt and unexpected end.
She allegedly did not submit all the evidence to the defense in a timely manner.
The news was brutal for the complainant, who nevertheless believed that her case was going well. She felt solid during her testimony.
“I understand that to err is human, but for a victim, for me, the consequence is inhuman,” she said.
Ms. Bellemare St-Georges testified for 15 days, spread over five weeks, of the atrocities that Laframboise allegedly subjected her to.
“It is the worst experience of my life, after his abuse. And I may have to endure it another time. It does not encourage victims to denounce, ”protests the one who nevertheless says she is ready to testify a second time if the prosecution files new charges, within the one-year period provided for by law.
This case comes two years after the publication of the report rebuild trust by Quebec, on the subject of support for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Ms. Bellemare St-Georges also wants to expose the flaws in the system “for all the victims who do not have the strength. I want things to change. »
A step back
“It is absurd to see a situation like this. It’s really a step backwards, ”supports Andréane Brouard, worker at the Center for help and the fight against sexual assault (CALACS).
She qualifies the plaintiff whom she followed throughout the judicial process as “resilient” and “combatant”.
Laframboise is not off the hook. He faces justice in a related case, in which he is accused of impersonating another person, and threats and obstruction.