Engineer Simon Houle will finally go to jail: The appeals court has just overturned the parole he received after pleading guilty to sexual assault and voyeurism charges.
Quebec’s highest court orders the 31-year-old to surrender to prison authorities by January 30. He has been behind bars for 12 months and now has a criminal record.
“The nature of the sexual act committed by Mr. Houle is not irrelevant,” these are serious crimes, the Court of Appeals writes, restoring the assessment of the sentencing factors by Judge Matthieu Poliquin of the Quebec Court.
Simon Houle pleaded guilty to stripping a sleeping young woman, sticking his fingers in her privates and taking multiple photographs of her.
The verdict handed down by Judge Poliquin last June was shocking: many people considered absolution too lenient given the seriousness of the crimes committed and the serious consequences, particularly psychological, for the victim.
Verdicts written by the judge in his verdict were also denounced, particularly his conclusions that the sexual assault took place “quickly overall” and that a prison sentence would have “disproportionate” negative consequences for the defendant, which could prevent him from traveling abroad for his work as an engineer .
The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), who had initially requested a total of 15 to 18 months’ imprisonment, had appealed the verdict.
The appeals court ultimately granted his request. With its verdict announced on Wednesday, the man was sentenced to twelve months in prison for sexual assault and two months for voyeurism. However, since she orders the two sentences to be served at the same time, this means that Simon Houle will be sentenced to 12 months in prison.
The DPCP expressed its “satisfaction” with this result and hopes that the Court of Appeal’s ruling “can inspire the confidence of victims of sexual violence and society in general in the justice system. »
“Hidden” aggravating factors
The Court of Appeal believes that the general approach used by Judge Poliquin in sentencing the two charges resulted in him “hiding” certain aggravating factors related to voyeurism, “particularly the number of photos, their content and the fact that they were available on Mr. Houle’s phone for 44 days” – and that they were also seen by one of his friends.
“As the prosecution argues, the victim will never be able to be sure that his sexual integrity and his private life are no longer at risk. »
The Court of Appeal contradicted Judge Poliquin in several of his findings, which had aroused popular anger.
First, she ponders the judge’s conclusion that the attack was “quick overall.” The Court of Appeal called him to order, ruling that what happened that evening was “nothing quick”. She points out that the defendant also photographed the victim in the kitchen and continued to attack her where she had taken refuge. “However, Mr. Houle’s relentlessness does not appear in the list of aggravating factors considered by the judge.”
In the first instance, the engineer admitted touching the genitals of a sleeping young woman over her clothes in 2015. Judge Poliquin saw in this confession the willingness of the accused to accept responsibility. The Court of Appeal considers that the judge was able to belittle the meaning of this unlawful conduct because of the “transparency demonstrated” by the accused, but that he explained the current aggression and voyeurism of “contextual and punctiform gestures in his life”. “It there is a step he could not possibly cross. »
Several complaints about Matthieu Poliquin were filed with the Quebec Judicial Council, but all were dismissed.
The point of absolution
In its decision, the Court of Appeal recalled certain principles of sentencing: First, absolution is possible as punishment for the vast majority of crimes, including sexual assault.
Judge Poliquin wrote that paroles were the sentencing in sexual assault cases. While that’s true, the Court of Appeals conceded, but in all the cases it cited, sexual assault was the only charge the perpetrator faced — unlike Simon Houle.
In addition, the Court of Appeal notes that imprisonment is the preferred sanction in sexual assault cases and that the penalties usually imposed range from 12 to 20 months in prison.
Here Judge Poliquin’s mistakes affected sentencing: they reduced the subjective seriousness of the offenses and the degree of responsibility of the perpetrator. Without abandoning the principle of social reintegration, the verdict must denounce Simon Houle’s illegal behavior and the harm done to the victim, confirms the highest court in Quebec, pronouncing the sentence it deems appropriate, namely imprisonment.