Businessman Robert Mitchell committed an attack similar to that of engineer Simon Houle in 2019. The first was sentenced to 18 months in prison, the second received a conditional discharge. How to explain this discrepancy? A law professor points to the period of transition that the judicial system is currently going through.
Posted at 3:50 p.m.
Mitchell, 57, was convicted by Judge Marie-Josée Di Lallo of having sexually assaulted one of her friends on May 17 at the Montreal courthouse. The facts described in the judgment are strongly reminiscent of those of the Simon Houle case, revealed in the media last week.
During a hunting trip to Victoriaville in September 2019, Robert Mitchell “sexually assaulted the complainant while she slept in her bed, details the judgment. She thought she was safe. The accused knew that she was vulnerable that night, since she had taken her medication and had been drinking alcohol. He took advantage of her. »
“In the middle of the night, [la victime] felt the accused touching his body in a sexual way with his hands and his penis, can we read. She also heard noises like someone taking pictures with a cell phone. She was unable to speak or make a sound. She couldn’t push him. She couldn’t move. She only had sudden memories, remembering only certain moments. »
When the police seized Robert Mitchell’s phone, a few months after the event, they found photos of the naked victim.
The latter “felt extremely betrayed after the attack. She became anxious and unsure of herself. She isolated herself from those around her for more than five months, then found it “incredibly difficult” to relive the events on trial two years later.
Very similar records
In April 2019, Simon Houle made movements back and forth with his fingers in the vagina of his victim, while he was a student at the university. This one had slept over the covers of her bed while being dressed, before being woken up by the light of a camera. Simon Houle had pulled up her camisole and unhooked her bra while she slept.
The authorities found nine photos from this event in the phone of the attacker, who ultimately received a conditional discharge even though he pleaded guilty.
Hugues Parent, a professor of criminal law at the University of Montreal, says the two cases are very similar in terms of the “seriousness of the crime”.
“We are in the presence of significant touching of the victim’s genitals committed during a single attack, against a person who is in a state of great vulnerability”, he explains, adding that the two men had no criminal record at the time of the attack.
Transition period
“We could therefore expect, at first sight, a greater similarity between the sentences,” continues the professor. However, we must beware of judging the quality of sentences for sexual assault solely on the basis of a quick comparison. »
On the one hand, the 18-month sentence is “apparently severe” for a crime of this kind in the eyes of Hugues Parent, considering that Judge Di Lallo does not rely “on a very summary analysis, even almost non-existent, of the sentences imposed in similar matters” to make his decision.
On the other hand, Simon Houle’s file mentions a “very lenient decision, which has been appealed and which risks being overturned soon”. Three factors could explain the harsher sentence given to Robert Mitchell, according to Hugues Parent.
First, the attacker also touched the victim with his penis, which did not happen in the case of Simon Houle. Then there was a “breach of trust”, since Mitchell knew his victim well. Finally, “Mitchell expressed remorse, but part of the regret comes from the consequences he himself suffered,” notes the professor of criminal law.
“It must be remembered that we are currently engaged in a period of transition in the field of sexual sentencing and, as with all transition periods, there are disturbances due to the way in which to translate the increased sensitivity of the population towards to the problem of sexual assault,” emphasizes Hugues Parent.
As with fraud or sexual abuse of children, Mr. Parent expects the judicial system to evolve soon to conform to what the population now tolerates, being much more aware of this issue today.