Thierry Karsenti, an academic considered a leading figure in education, was sentenced to five years in prison for sexual contact with a minor. The eminent researcher had already claimed other victims in the early 1990s, but had been pardoned.
Judge Ann-Marie Beauchemin sided with the Crown in her sentencing judgment handed down Friday afternoon in Longueuil. Prosecutor Me Anne Gauvin was asking for six years in prison. The defense lawyer, Me Clara Daviault asked for two years less a day.
The facts date back to 2015. The former teacher entered the bedroom of an 11-year-old boy several times. He slipped his hand into the child’s underwear and had already observed the victim while she was naked in the shower.
“I really didn’t want to, but I didn’t say anything because he was someone who had a lot of authority,” the young man, whose identity is protected by an order, recalled in his testimony to the court in March 2023.
Thierry Karsenti, a former researcher at the University of Montreal, was found guilty of sexual contact with a minor last summer by Judge Beauchemin.
No visible history
Mr. Karsenti had a distinguished career in academia, despite being convicted of a similar criminal offense in 1992, the report said. The Press in the past. He had been granted a pardon, which erased all traces of his criminal record.
This is what allowed him to obtain a position as professor of educational sciences at the University of Montreal. Thierry Karsenti also directed the Canada Research Chair on Information and Communication Technologies.
He also advised Sébastien Proulx when the latter was Minister of Education in 2018. Thierry Karsenti has been cited hundreds of times in the media for his expertise on technologies such as computers and tablets in schools.
With Émilie Bilodeau, The Press