The Crown suggests imposing a sentence of 7 to 8 years in prison on the former internationally renowned gymnast Thierry Pellerin. The latter pleaded guilty in July to twelve counts of a sexual nature for crimes perpetrated against children.
The former Olympic hopeful is facing charges of computer luring, voyeurism, production and possession of child pornography, breach of trust and transmission of sexually explicit material against the will of the recipient.
He admits to having committed these crimes, in particular to having lured two children, aged 11 and 12 at the beginning of the events, and to having filmed the private parts of eight boys who attended the Gymnamic center in Lévis, where Thierry Pellerin worked as coach.
In messages read by prosecutor Geneviève Corriveau at the start of the hearing, victims testified to the consequences that the actions perpetrated by Thierry Pellerin had on their lives.
“I’m much more suspicious of people around me,” said one. “I trusted Thierry a lot, he was my idol and I considered him a bit like my brother, continued another. If I was in his presence, I would insult him […] because that’s what he deserves in addition to prison. »
The Crown is asking for a sentence of 7 to 8 years in prison. It emphasizes in particular the seriousness and the frequency of the alleged acts, as well as the manipulation exercised by the accused with his victims.
A frenetic epistolary relationship bound him to them. The Crown, on Friday, reported 7,528 text messages exchanged between Thierry Pellerin and one of his victims over a period of only 51 days, from April 20, 2020 to June 10, 2020. Some text messages exposed by the Crown relate the insistence of the accused to obtain images of the victim and to emphasize the sexual nature of their exchanges.
Thierry Pellerin was 22 at the time. His victim, 10 less.
The defense asks for 18 to 24 months
The defense, for its part, proposes a sentence of 18 to 24 months incarceration, insisting in particular on the therapeutic journey made by the accused since his arrest. Me Mathieu Giroux indicates that at the beginning of the facts, his client was 17 years old and showed “immaturity”.
“He was a young man who excelled in his sport, who was an icon and who had developed an image of perfection. This led him to develop a personality that had a lack of empathy and a certain coldness in his emotions. »
According to the sexological report of the accused, the latter understands that he has a problem and he wishes to take steps to remedy it. “It was more the forbidden aspect than the material itself” that attracted Thierry Pellerin, adds Me Giroux. According to the defence, the accused could have made these gestures to get out of the world of gymnastics, even “to fill an inner void”.
The defense insisted on the possibilities of rehabilitation of the defendant. “Because of his young age, because of his immaturity, […] I don’t think we should send him to prison and throw away the key, ”pleaded Me Giroux.
The fallen athlete’s offenses began in 2015, five years before his arrest at his home in Lévis in July 2020. Gymnastics Canada had immediately suspended Thierry Pellerin, who at the time represented Canada’s next generation on horseback. of pommels.
He had collected medals internationally, including bronze at the Challenge World Cup in Paris in 2019, the pommel gold medal at the Challenge World Cup in Guimarães and the silver medal in Paris in 2018. Thierry Pellerin also won two gold medals at the Canadian Pommel Horse Championships in 2017 and 2018.
A previous version of this text indicated that Thierry Pellerin pleaded guilty to nine counts. The total is more like twelve.