Five years after being convicted of the sexual exploitation of a teenage girl, the fallen singer Luck Mervil is accused of having sexually assaulted a woman in June 2000. The artist firmly denies the accusations and claims to be the victim of a “mistake on the person.”
“That didn’t happen. This is not true. It’s not me,” insisted the artist in an interview with The Press Wednesday.
” It’s boring. I feel vulnerable,” he says.
Without fanfare, singer-songwriter Luck Mervil (whose real name is Lucknerson) was accused of sexual assault on November 23 at the Rimouski courthouse. The 56-year-old man is due to appear in court next January. According to the arrest warrant, he is accused of having sexually assaulted a woman on the night of June 23 to 24, 2000 in Rimouski.
At that time, the singer was at the peak of his career. He had already released four albums and played an important role in the famous musical Notre Dame de Paris. He also hosted the Canada Day festivities that summer.
In interview with The Press, Luck Mervil defended his innocence with conviction. He notably assures that he does not know the complainant.
“I didn’t recognize his name. I didn’t recognize his photo. I don’t know the person. […] When I read [la preuve], It is not me. What the person is describing is not me. I’m just sad. Maybe she experienced something with someone. One thing is certain, it’s not me,” he said.
“A show in Rimouski 23 years ago. I was at a bar after a show. That’s the proof. I have a page that promoted the show two days before,” he says, without saying more about the complainant’s story.
According to Luck Mervil, it is improbable that he found himself alone in a bar, as the plaintiff suggests. “We usually go out as a gang [après un spectacle] “, he said. Also, no one in Quebec can say that he has ever drunk to excess or gotten into a fight in a bar, he swears.
In short, in his eyes, there is “very clearly mistaken identity”.
He claims to support the #metoo denunciation movement. But in the same breath, he adds that the present accusation dates from two decades ago and that he has already publicly apologized following his conviction for sexual exploitation in 2018.
“I did everything I had to do. At some point… We try to get our lives back. I participated in Quebec society… It’s a society that I love,” he continues.
“I was really scared”
This is the second time Luck Mervil has had to face justice. He was sentenced to six months in home confinement in 2018 – a very lenient sentence – for sexually exploiting a 17-year-old girl he had known since childhood in 1996.
In court, the victim recounted a violent sexual assault committed during an “improvisation” session, when Luck Mervil wanted to evaluate the talent of the dramatic arts student. He grabbed her and kissed her on the mouth, then threw her on the sofa to attack her.
“He managed to rape me. […] I was really scared. […] I used all the strength I could to get out of his grip. But it was strong enough not to move a millimeter,” she testified at the preliminary investigation. The teenager had told him no at least 60 times.
Luck Mervil was also ordered to register on the Sex Offenders Registry for 20 years.
The artist had also filed a request last summer to be excluded from the Sex Offenders Registry. He was scheduled to testify earlier this month. However, the hearing was postponed, apparently due to the new accusation.
In his petition, the artist complained about the heavy burden of this registration: harm to the development of his career, difficulty in traveling, inability to create intimate personal relationships, fear of random surveillance by the police. In his eyes, this inscription violated his right to life, liberty and security.
The Supreme Court recently recalled that the objective of this register was to help police officers prevent and investigate sexual crimes. Thus, an offender who does not have an “increased” risk of sexual recidivism should in principle not be included in the Register.
As Luck Mervil said he presented little risk of recidivism, he asked the Superior Court to remove him from the Register. He also deplored that his inscription keeps “omnipresent an act which took place more than 25 years ago”.
The story so far
- May 14, 2018: Luck Mervil pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of a 17-year-old girl.
- May 23, 2018: The artist is sentenced to six months in community prison.
- July 4, 2023: The Press reveals that Luck Mervil wants to be removed from the Sex Offender Registry.
- November 23, 2023: Luck Mervil is accused of sexual assault at the Rimouski courthouse.