A teenager who was sexually exploited for several years by her high school’s special education teacher said she lost her innocence as a result of the attacks.
• Also read: In the case of a “couple” with a 13-year-old student: a special education teacher who is guilty of sexual exploitation
“I feel like from the ages of 13 to 17 I was locked into an adult life that wasn’t mine,” said the now 25-year-old victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.
Véronie Campeau, 42, pleaded guilty last March to sexual harassment, incitement to sexual contact and sexual exploitation of the student she was supposed to help in 2011. But instead, the defendant had pressured the teenager to develop some sort of intimate relationship between them.
This is because after the support meetings, Campeau and the victim began to meet outside of school in the metropolis, including in a park where the defendant kissed the victim on the mouth. It was spring 2011.
According to the summary of facts, Campeau developed this illicit relationship while she had a spouse. Since she couldn’t take the teenager home with her, the teacher instead rented a hotel room to have sexual contact with her.
“My right to be innocent, to be discovered, was taken away from me. This part of me will never be given back to me,” the victim testified at the Montreal courthouse Thursday morning.
The “relationship” between Campeau and the student eventually ended in the winter of 2011 when the victim stated he wanted to meet people his own age. However, the two met again the following summer. And after sexual contact, they “officially became a couple,” according to the statement of facts.
The illicit relationship finally ended in 2014, but it took several years for the victim to file a complaint after realizing she had been manipulated. When the teenager saw Campeau continuing to work at a school in Pointe-aux-Trembles and realized “the extent” of what she had suffered, he went to the police station.
“Everyone but me is talking about my story. It was important for me to be able to express myself and I’m glad I was able to do that,” concluded the victim.
More details to follow…
– In collaboration with Michaël Nguyen