Victim testifies in sexual exploitation trial of former Montreal-area high school basketball coach

A victim testified at the Montreal courthouse on the first day of the sexual exploitation trial of former St-Laurent High School basketball coach Daniel Lacasse.

Lacasse, 45, is one of three teachers who were arrested in 2022 for allegedly sexually exploiting students 12 years prior.

The court heard a woman's testimony saying she first met Lacasse when she was 12.

At first, she said, her basketball skills quickly progressed as she made her way through high school. But by the time she reached secondary three, the woman testified Lacasse became overly intense.

She told the court the coach was verbally and physically abusive toward players — calling them sexist names, physically punishing them, angrily throwing objects around the locker room and ridiculing immigrant students.

The plaintiff testified that she still grew close to her coach, who paid her medical bills, took her to appointments and even attended her physiotherapy appointments.

She said she started spending time at Lacasse's home, which she called a "safe space" away from her life of poverty in a challenging family situation.

She told the court Lacasse started talking to her about his ideal of a woman's body and that he started caressing her thighs as the two watched television. She was only 16 at the time of the alleged events.

The touching eventually led to sexual intercourse, she testified, with the contact lasting two years.

When asked by the prosecutor what went through her mind at the time, the woman said she thought it was the school's basketball culture.

The trial is expected to last a week.

The other two coaches, Charles Xavier Boilard and Robert Luu, have their trials set for November and January, respectively.

All three have been fired from the school service centre.