Former Quebec junior hockey players sentenced for sex assault to appeal sentences

Former Victoriaville Tigres hockey players Nicolas Daigle, left, and Massimo Siciliano, follow defence lawyer Michel Lebrun, right, out of the courtroom after pleading guilty on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot, The Canadian Press)

Two former Quebec junior hockey players will appeal their prison sentences for sexually assaulting a minor at a hotel in June 2021 during a celebration of a Victoriaville Tigres championship win.

On Monday, Quebec court Judge Thomas Jacques sentenced Nicolas Daigle to 32 months in jail and Massimo Siciliano to 30 months.

A lawyer for Siciliano, 21, filed a motion to have his client instead be given a suspended sentence and bail while he awaits a decision.

A lawyer for Daigle, 21, says he filed a similar appeal on behalf of his client.

Both appeals are scheduled to be heard before the high court on Thursday in the provincial capital.

At the time of the assault both men were members of the Victoriaville team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, and the club was celebrating on June 5, 2021, after winning the championship trophy.

The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was an employee at the Quebec City-area hotel where the team was staying during the 2021 playoffs. She had befriended Daigle while he and his teammates were living at the hotel for about a month leading up to their victory.

She had initially declined an invitation from team members to join their party. Citing hotel policy, she had also initially said no to Daigle's request to join him in his room. But later that night, after she left work, Daigle messaged her again and convinced her to return to the hotel.

The victim agreed to visit the room only with Daigle, but when she arrived she discovered Siciliano, whom she did not know, was also there. She said she felt trapped before she was assaulted by both of them, at times simultaneously, for about 40 minutes.

During that time, Daigle filmed the woman without her knowledge.

Both men pleaded guilty in October ahead of a trial.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2024.