He sexually assaulted eight women and teenage girls in the 2000s, he almost escaped from prison, he kidnapped a young girl on the street to attack her: Michel Vautour, one of the country’s worst sexual sadists, was arrested on Tuesday sentenced to the worst punishment: indefinite imprisonment.
Posted at 2:57 p.m.
“Michel Cox-Vautour’s profile is exceptional. It represents an irreducible risk. It is unlikely that any sentence other than an indeterminate sentence would protect society,” concluded Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné at the Montreal courthouse, also declaring him a dangerous offender.
With such a verdict, the chances that Michel Vautour (who was called Michel Cox at the start of the trial) will one day get out of prison are slim. A verdict that lifted an enormous burden from the young victim’s shoulders.
“I am enormously relieved. “It’s been going on like this for three years,” breathes the victim, his voice choked with emotion. The young victim courageously confided in journalists on the sidelines of the decision. His identity cannot be revealed. “The impact was very big for me,” she admits.
Judge Gagné also wanted to highlight the courage of this woman who fought for her life in her kidnapper’s vehicle. “The victim’s strength of character made it possible to thwart the defendant’s plan. His energy, courage and bravery inspire admiration,” the judge concluded.
August 2020. Michel Vautour was released for two months. He is serving the last third of his 21-year sentence in a municipal correctional facility. Nicknamed “the Laval Attacker,” he was convicted of the sordid rape of eight women and teenage girls in the 2000s.
That day, Michel Vautour targeted a 16-year-old girl who was walking on Saint-Viateur Street in Outremont. He has a flashing light in his car, binoculars and zip ties. He pretends to be a police officer, handcuffs the victim and puts her in his car. If the teenager had not fought, her fate would have been terrible.
“It could have been much worse,” observed the victim in the press crowd.
Last July, during his sentencing hearing, Michel Vautour took the liberty of rewriting history by presenting a watered-down version of his crime “without emotion.” He said he wanted to show the system “what a savage was” by attacking a young woman.
“He says he is a victim of the DPJ, a victim of the correctional service, and to take revenge on them he planned the kidnapping and sexual assault. “This explanation is absurd and almost burlesque,” ruled the judge.
Michel Vautour is an extremely dangerous criminal: his risk of becoming violent again is 75%. Experts emphasize his lack of empathy and his willingness to use violence.
“For me it is absolutely impossible to see any concrete progress in social reintegration,” says the judge.
In seven years, Michel Vautour will be able to apply to the Parole Board of Canada for release every two years.
Crown Prosecutor Annabelle Sheppard led this case.