A young soldier used the presence of his uniform to manipulate a 14-year-old girl on social networks and sexually abuse her on multiple occasions. Despite his high risk of reoffending, Alexandre Matheussen faces three and a half years in prison.
Posted at 1:42 p.m.
“I thought it would be safe to talk to him: a military man. This has everything to convince us that we are safe. He did everything he could to convince me he was a good guy. He used my vulnerability to his advantage. He is supposed to protect people, not betray their trust, manipulate and break them,” the teenager said in a poignant letter read out in the courtroom on Thursday while observing her attacker’s sentence.
Alexandre Matheussen, a 22-year-old sergeant in the Canadian Forces Reserve, was arrested in January 2022 while in the middle of a vaccination drive. After being relieved of his duties, he pleaded guilty last May to charges of sexual contact and enticement.
The Montrealer began chatting with the then 13-year-old victim on the Snapchat application. The predator described to the teenager the degrading gestures he would like to see from her and asked for photos of her. He also sent her photos of his penis.
In the summer of 2021, Alexandre Matheussen met the victim personally. He even picks her up at her house. He takes advantage of these car trips to attack the teenager. Once he insists on a penetrative relationship in a dead end, but the girl constantly refuses. He then pulls her hair and forces her to perform oral sex.
These attacks left a lasting mark on the adolescent: loss of trust in men, disturbed sexuality, loss of appetite, nightmares, difficulties in school, etc. In addition, she contracted STBBI (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection).
“I take other people’s judgment into account when I talk about it. This brings up a lot of questions and I feel like I have to explain myself. It shouldn’t be me explaining things and reliving the attacks over and over again. I realize it’s not my fault, it’s his. What he did to me does not define me and will never define me,” the teenager concludes in her letter.
The parties proposed a prison sentence of three and a half years to Judge Pierre E. Labelle. “Everyone put water in their wine,” explained Crown Prosecutor Me Jérôme Laflamme. In his view, this sentence is appropriate given the defendant’s admission of guilt – which avoided a trial – and his lack of criminal record.
According to a report, the public prosecutor’s office sees Alexandre Matheussen’s still “high” risk of reoffending as a particularly aggravating factor. “This is no reason to calm down,” Me Laflamme added.
Defense attorney Michael Morena emphasized that his client had expressed regret for his actions and had shown some awareness.
The judge will make his decision in two weeks. He ordered the immediate imprisonment of Alexandre Matheussen.