Guy Cloutier will have to pay $15,000 in damages to a woman who claims she was assaulted by the ex-impresario when she dreamed of becoming an actress in the 1970s.
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“The psychological damage caused to the plaintiff has been significant to date,” ruled Judge Yves Hamel of the Small Claims Court.
Judge Hamel therefore agrees with Michelle Charron, who testified that she was sexually assaulted by Guy Cloutier in a Montreal hotel room in 1977, when she wanted to break into Quebec showbiz.
Mme Charron, 65, had filed an appeal with the small claims division of the Court of Quebec in September 2020.
She was claiming $15,000 for lost wages, psychological trauma and career over.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, MARIO BEAUREGARD
Decisive meeting
Michelle Charron, fresh out of adolescence, dreamed of being an actress when she first met Guy Cloutier in a restaurant in Gatineau where she worked.
The one who was then the manager of René Simard then exchanged his number with that of the victim.
“She claims to have seen him again in Montreal a few months later following telephone exchanges. At this time, the plaintiff specifies that the defendant is courting her and promising her a great artistic career, ”says Judge Hamel in his judgment rendered on Tuesday.
Guy Cloutier then decided to organize an advertisement with singer Johnny Farago and Michelle Charron.
The ex-impresario even had an article published in the magazine Featured Echoeswhere the victim, then 19 years old, was described as “the new darling of Quebecers”.
- Listen to the explanations of journalist Alexandre Moranville in his news brief broadcast live every day at 12:55 p.m. via QUB-radio :
About a week before the commercial was taped, the two met in a hotel room at Place Dupuis in Montreal, paid for by Cloutier, then 37.
“At the time of the sexual violence, the plaintiff claims to have frozen rather than fleeing or struggling or fighting the defendant, which is likely and plausible”, can we read.
It was not until decades later, when the Moi Aussi movement emerged, that Michelle Charron “accepts and acknowledges what she experienced as sexual violence committed by the defendant in 1977,” he said. we.
Last February, at the Montreal courthouse, Ms.me Charron testified that he had to follow many therapies with psychologists and psychiatrists after this event.
“The plaintiff attributes a significant part of her problems with drinking, consumption and her significant psychological disorganization at times to the sexual violence suffered in 1977”, indicates the magistrate.
Guy Cloutier dismissed
Guy Cloutier, now 83, did not show up for trial. He merely sent an affidavit in his defence.
Judge Hamel, however, ruled that it “is not sufficient to set aside or significantly weaken the detailed and consistent version offered by the plaintiff”.
“The Court grants little or no probative value to the defendant’s written evidence”, because it must “be able to assess its seriousness, sincerity, accuracy and veracity”, specifies the magistrate.