A man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old teenager in an alleyway and gave her chlamydia was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on Thursday despite a “very high” risk of recidivism. A mild sentence that is explained by Medgino Andre’s mental disability and cultural uprooting.
Posted at 4:33pm
“Without that context, the verdict would have been much more severe,” said Judge Robert Marchi, supporting the sentencing proposal presented by the attorneys at the Montreal courthouse on Thursday. “We are all born the same, but it doesn’t take long…” concluded the judge, referring to the difficult life of the accused.
Medgino Andre gave a nightmare to a teenager he met accidentally in October 2020. After exchanging his phone number with the man around 5 p.m., the teenager went to babysit. Then, around 11 p.m., on the way home, she met Medgino Andre again.
As soon as the victim approaches him, Medgino Andre grabs her hips, puts his hand in her panties and sexually assaults her, penetrating her while holding her hands behind her back. The attacker transmits chlamydia to their victim during the attack. While the victim is in the hospital, Medgino Andre even tries to silence her.
“I can’t imagine … at 15, [une agression avec] Penetration, on the street, at 11 p.m. It’s hard to imagine a more difficult scenario,” concluded Judge Marchi. ” [L’accusé] ticks almost all the boxes of aggravating factors,” the judge added.
The consequences for the teenager were dramatic: pain, poor school performance, medication, increased alertness. “I’m always scared when I’m on the street. I always look to see who’s behind me,” she wrote in a statement read by the judge.
In another case, Medgino Andre abused a young girl for years and threatened a woman with death. The child has deep scars from those episodes of violence, said Crown Prosecutor Me Carolyne Paquin.
Judge Marchi summed up the opinions of the accused as “extremely negative”. Experts conclude that there is a very high risk of recurrence. But the reports help put the defendant’s journey into context, argued his attorney, Samuel McAuliffe.
Medgino Andre had a “difficult” childhood in Haiti before coming to Canada in 2009, Me McAuliffe said. He could neither read nor write. He also has an intellectual disability. His lawyer also mentions his “cultural and geographical uprooting”.
Therefore, taking into account these mitigating circumstances, the lawyers presented a joint proposal of 54 months imprisonment, which was upheld by the judge. Since the accused has already been imprisoned for more than two years, he only has 10 months left to serve.