The Crown is seeking a total sentence of four years in prison for the former teacher at the Séminaire Saint-François, who lured establishment students by sending photos of his parties, going so far as to invite one of them to masturbate at his place.
The prosecutor, Me Louis-Philippe Desjardins, believes that the aggravating factors in Dave-Alex Berthelot’s case are numerous and, above all, extremely important.
Abuse of trust, psychological manipulation, numerous crimes over a long period of time, requests to remain silent; The prosecutor pleaded before Judge Annie Trudel on Thursday that the defendant’s moral responsibility goes far beyond the “small penis complex” that he exposed on Wednesday as the source of the crimes committed.
“He chose these young people because he knew he was superior to them,” Me Desjardins explained during observation of the ex-teacher’s sentence, who was arrested in January 2021. “Yes, the complex can in a way explain the transition to law, but it can neither justify nor invalidate it.
handling
Dave-Alex Berthelot pleaded guilty to charges of solicitation and sexual exploitation for engaging in inappropriate conversations with young people he coached in football. In one instance, he went so far as to invite the teenager to come over and masturbate, saying he had this recommendation from a therapist to help him compare himself to sort out his physiological complexes.
“He made it up. […] It is very damaging for a teenager who knows deep down that it doesn’t make sense but sees an adult, a teacher, telling him that a professional advised him to do it. It significantly accentuates the moral guilt of the accused,” Me Desjardins pointed out.
The latter also expressed doubts about the testimony of the psychologist treating the accused, who had come “on a mission”.
“The entirety of his testimony should not clarify the court, but prove that his client is not a predator,” assesses the Crown Prosecutor and qualifies Dr. Claude Gaumond as “not impartial”.
1 year for defense
For his part, defense attorney Me Pierre Côté proposed that the judge sentence the former teacher, who had returned to university to take administration courses and found a job in a cleaning products company where his father works, to 12 years in prison months to condemn.
To justify his proposal, the lawyer specifically mentions the risk of recidivism for Dave-Alex Berthelot, which he considers low. Two reports were filed with the court, one prejudice and the other sexological, reporting a risk ranging from “low” to “above average”.
“In my opinion, the risk is small,” Me Côté insisted, citing his client’s therapeutic journey, his admission of guilt and his remorse to justify this position.
“Mr. Berthelot has known about his problem since February 2021. He himself consulted a psychologist and has been in therapy for almost two years. It’s a very long period in which he’s been seen for at least 50 hours,” Me Côté recalled.
dispute about consequences
The latter also claimed that, in his opinion, the consequences for the lives of the victims were “at the lower end of the scale”, noting in particular the school career pursued by the majority of young men and the lack of psychological follow-up.
“It’s not the portrait of four victims being prevented from going about their normal lives,” he said of the four young men who testified Wednesday, a position that startled his fellow prosecutors.
“To say that a person who is able to go to school does not suffer makes no sense, is unfounded,” countered Mr Desjardins.
“And it’s not because a person doesn’t have mental health care that they don’t need it. The best example is our file. Mr Berthelot clearly needed a follow up but he never sought it.”
set comes
The file will be returned to the court on January 19 to complete the sentencing phase.
The parties then agree on the date when Judge Trudel will make her decision.
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