MONTREAL -- A recidivist pedophile sentenced to 54 months in prison for sexually assaulting two minors has been banned for life from the Matane region by Judge Jules Berthelot of the Court of Quebec.
The 41-year-old man, who appeared Tuesday at the Matane courthouse, was imposed a series of conditions, including not being permitted in the area between Mont-Joli, west of Matane, and Anse-Pleureuse, east of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, for the rest of his life.
The Crown prosecutor, Guy Loiselle, said this type of ban is rare, but that he had seen it before in his career. Both the Crown and the defence suggested that the accused should not be within two kilometres of the victims' residence. Loiselle said the judge based his decision on the evidence, as well as on the psychiatric report presented to him.
The court also declared the convicted sex offender to be a long-term offender, a title that would remain for a period of five years, starting from his release from prison. His name will also be placed on the national sex offender registry for the rest of his life. Other conditions imposed on the former Matane resident include a lifetime ban from being in a public place where children under the age of 16 could be.
The 41-year-old man has been incarcerated since his latest arrest on March 16, 2020. He had been on parole for fifteen days at the time of the arrest after serving a five-year sentence for other sexual offenses against minors.
Given the time served since his arrest, the individual will have to spend another 26 months behind bars.
- This report by The Local Journalism Initiative was first published in French on Oct. 6, 2021.
