A rape victim in Montreal had to be towed to three different hospitals for a forensic examination. The first facility refused to proceed because it speaks French, a judge revealed.
“The first hospital refuses to carry out the examination because their mother tongue is French. [Les policiers] Take her to a second hospital, which she also refuses due to the lack of forensic equipment available there. The investigation will eventually be conducted at a third hospital,” Judge Alexandre Dalmau said this morning at the Montreal courthouse.
The judge reported a sexual assault in the summer of 2020 when defendant Martin Jolicoeur, a 45-year-old Lachine resident, assaulted an acquaintance while he was sleeping. And this despite the fact that she had expressly stated that she did not want any reconciliations.
The woman left the premises and felt “cheated and dirty, not listened to and not respected”. She began searching for a police station, but to no avail, the judge said. The woman, whose identity is being protected by the court, then called 911.
Repeated rejections
“They picked up streaks on the street,” the judge explained. She tells them what happened. She agrees to accompany them to the hospital for a forensic examination.
Something went wrong for the French-speaking woman here.
Fortunately, the police did not give up, even though two hospitals refused to take care of the woman, who has suffered many injustices since the events.
The names of the hospitals concerned were not mentioned in court.
The victim suffered from “insomnia and lack of appetite,” the judge said.
“The event led to a drop in self-esteem. She experiences feelings of betrayal, misunderstanding, anger and shame, and sadness.”
No indulgence
The rapist was arrested and convicted of sexual assault after his trial. And although he hoped to get away with a suspended sentence, the judge instead decided to send him to prison for 18 months, despite his rehabilitation.
“The perpetrator overstepped the victim’s boundaries when she was vulnerable,” the judge said, among other things.
After his release from prison, Jolicoeur faces a three-year suspended sentence. He will also be on the sex offender registry for two decades.
More details to come…
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