After his ex-partner was sentenced to three years in prison last autumn, the father of a little girl who involved the couple in their sexual escapades in her first year of life admitted his guilt at Mines Courthouse in Thetford.
• Also read: Imprisoned for escapades with her one-year-old baby
The 59-year-old man pleaded guilty on Friday to four counts of producing child pornography, sexual harassment and inciting sexual contact with minors, and preparing a crime of sexual violence against a child.
The facts that the defendant is accused of began in early 2021, exactly on the day of the birth of his child. From that moment on, he and his wife had a “more special” sexuality, according to the parties’ statement of facts, alongside the admission of guilt. The actions spanned a period of one and a half years.
The defendant, whose identity cannot be revealed to protect the victim, was not living with the mother in the Thetford Mines area at the time. His visits were sporadic, but their sexual exchanges via text messages were numerous.
Sexual gestures
“You have several written conversations about sexual relationships involving the child. […] They discuss the sex they are about to have [la petite] and the acts they will commit against her. “Both say they are excited,” Crown prosecutor Me Sarah Paré described Groleau.
While the tenses used in the exchange were originally in the future, they switched to the past in autumn 2021.
“This gives every reason to believe that some of the actions described took place,” the prosecutor added.
The police investigation and the couple's confessions show that the child went from being a witness to a sexual relationship. The statement of facts speaks of sexual relations in the shower while the child is in the defendant's arms. Then, after going into the bedroom, the mother admitted touching the child's buttocks while the relationship continued.
When the defendant ejaculated, semen landed on the child's foot, where the woman licked it off.
The mother also sent nude photos of herself and the child. At her father's request, she occasionally placed her hands on the little girl's breasts.
“Disgusting”
It was the child's mother who contacted the police herself to denounce the “double life” of the man, who ultimately did not move into her house, and accused him of fraud. However, the man's sexual habits were discussed and the investigation then took a different turn.
Judge Sarah-Julie Chicoine, who confirmed the mother's three-year prison sentence in November, described the couple's behavior as “disgusting”.
“It is extremely serious.”
This time it is Judge Annie Trudel who has to decide on the sentence against the child's father. The case will be heard again in court next April so that the date for comments on the verdict can be set.
A pre-sentence report with a sexological component was required for the man, who is at large during the proceedings.
An inmate invites himself to the hearing
At the start of the trial, Judge Trudel had to intervene and turn off the camera and microphone at the Quebec detention center as an inmate involved in another case responded to sexual allegations made against the father.
As the prosecutor read out the man's alleged actions, the inmate sighed and nodded constantly in disapproval. When his microphone was turned off, he waved at the camera with a broad smile, as if to remind the defendant that he would most likely be remanded with him.
Judge Trudel then requested that the connection be interrupted while the case was processed.
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