Pimp Westley Alectus, who forced his girlfriend into prostitution for four months, was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse. The victim, Iris*, suffered post-traumatic shock after being exploited.
Posted yesterday at 5:15 p.m.
In December, the former massage parlor owner was convicted of three charges related to pimping as well as one count of assault. Between December 2016 and Easter 2017, Alectus forced his girlfriend to receive three to seven clients a day, from Tuesday to Saturday. The criminal also punched her in the face after she refused to have sex with him on Easter Day in 2017.
The Crown prosecutor, Mr.and Charles Doucet, asked for 42 months of imprisonment. The defense attorney, M.and Anna Ouahnich, was aiming for two years less a day.
I am satisfied. This is nevertheless a case where the victim’s testimony was believed in a context where there were contradictory versions.
Mand Charles Doucet, Crown Attorney
As the sentence imposed on the offender approximates his suggestion, Ms.and Doucet nevertheless considers it “important”.
However, the prosecutor said he was “less satisfied” that Westley Alectus was not added to the National Sex Offender Registry. This provision is mandatory for certain crimes, but in the case of Alectus, it was at the discretion of Judge Pierre Dupras to make this decision.
Circumstances
Among the aggravating factors, the judge noted “the appropriation of the entirety of the sums paid” to the victim, the duration of the sexual exploitation and the ambiguity maintained as to their relationship. The decision also raises “his plan to make her work again when she returns to Montreal” and that of “making her work as” escort » in the West when she had made it clear to him that she no longer wanted to do this job. »
It is also mentioned that Iris had to “submit” to such a high number of customers that she had “damage to her vagina”.
Even though Westley Alectus punched his victim in the face, the judge retained “the absence of violence other than that which is inherent in the offense of procuring itself” as a mitigating factor in the sentence, since the charges of assault for which the pimp was convicted did not appear to be “in connection with any form of coercion to commit the sexual commodity offences”.
The written decision mentions a “diagnosis of post-traumatic shock” in the victim. She also felt shame, extreme anxiety, loss of self-confidence and libido.
Absences
The 44-year-old Lavallois was originally scheduled to appear before Judge Dupras on April 27, at 2 p.m. Two hours later, he was still not physically at the Montreal courthouse, which led the Court to issue an arrest warrant against him. The special constables of the palace arrested the procurer on his arrival at the registry at the end of the afternoon, the same day.
On May 5, the Court wanted him to hear his sentence in virtual mode. The pimp refused, wanting to attend in the presence. Employees of his detention center, under the direction of the judge and at the request of his lawyer, tried to get him out of his cell to appear on the screen. On the phone, an employee was overheard saying that Alectus was “spraying them with potentially biological fluid.” In these circumstances, the sentence was postponed until Tuesday.
Fifty days will be subtracted from the length of the sentence, due to the time spent by the pimp in pre-trial detention.
* Fictitious name to protect the anonymity of the victim