Freed by the death of her mother, who told her not to speak, and heartened by Nathalie Simard’s book, a sexual assault victim has just seen her attacker, her sister’s former partner, pleaded guilty to acts dating back to the 1970s was found.
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The 69-year-old defendant was convicted of indecent assault by Judge Stéphane Poulin at the end of February.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, lived peacefully between the 1972-75 assaults and the victim’s denunciation 45 years later.
The applicant is the younger sister of the defendant’s wife at the time. Six sexual incidents occurred when she was between the ages of 7 and 11.
Multiple assaults
The first assault occurs in the middle of a family dinner at the dinner table. Sitting on the defendant’s knees, the defendant plunges his hand into the girl’s underwear to touch her vulva.
More episodes of touching, cunnilingus and digital penetration followed.
In one of the assaults, which took place in the bathroom of the defendant’s accommodation, the then eight-year-old young victim was forced to put the defendant’s penis in his mouth. He ejaculates quickly, leaving behind a “disgusting taste” that she would vividly describe in court nearly 50 years later.
Judge Poulin qualified the woman’s testimony as sincere. “She testified soberly and calmly. Sometimes she reveals a certain sadness related to the events. She seemed transparent and honest,” the judge commented on his decision.
As for the defendant, his defense, which challenges the victim’s reliability and asserts that he has no recollection of having had contact with the victim, left the judge in no doubt.
“The court does not believe the accused,” the judge bluntly asserted. “He does not directly and truthfully answer questions related to sexual activity. A general impression of falsehood emerges from his presentation.
Liberated Victim
The verdict states that the victim had verbalized her attacker’s actions in the past but had never filed a complaint before 2019.
She reported the attacks to her mother in particular, but she then told her “that her father shouldn’t know anything about it”. At 18, she also spoke to her sister about the gestures, the accused was confronted with them, but the file did not go any further. In 2018, she also wrote to the accused via Facebook, a message that went unanswered.
After therapy, the victim finally took the final step.
“In 2019 her mother died and she read Nathalie Simard’s book, [ce] representing the two events that prompted him to pursue the denunciation process further,” Judge Poulin wrote in his ruling.
An arrest warrant was finally issued for his attacker in February 2021, 49 years after the first attack.
The case will be brought back to court next April to set a date for sentencing motions.
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