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June 15, 2020 17h29
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Seven years in the penitentiary for a sex offender in the series
Isabelle Mathieu
The Sun
A business man with no previous judicial, Christian Girard, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for repeated sexual assaults, for 30 years, seven young men of his entourage.
Failing to be gathered in a courtroom, the victims of Christian Girard, and their loved ones were many to follow the virtual hearing Monday morning, to know what fate was waiting for the one who has been found guilty of gross indecency, indecent act and sexual assault.
The Crown attorney, Me Michel Bérubé was estimated at eight years in the penitentiary, the just punishment for aggressions in the series on so many victims.
The advocate of Christian Girard, Ms. Micheline St-Laurent, had suggested a total sentence between 24 and 30 months. The accused, now aged 65 years, testified that he did not rigour to the victims.
In 2015, the seven men set to denounce acts of fondling, masturbation and blowjobs, rare to some, common to others. The latest assaults dating back to the late 1990s. Several have explained that the assault occurred in a context where the accused and the victims had consumed drugs and alcohol.
True that Girard has not used violence, in the proper sense. But Girard has “worn psychological stress” and “abused without reservation of the physical and psychological integrity of the victims,” insists the judge Hubert Couture.
Many of the victims were minor at the time of commencement of the crimes. “Their vulnerability was obvious, not to say blinding,” writes the judge Couture in its decision.
The young men have for the most part continued to have some contact with Girard, a man charismatic, much loved by all his extended family. After hearing the evidence, the court finds that the relationship between Girard and his victims are prosecuted “in a context of immoral and pernicious power, domination and control”.
The court is said to have been able to see the distress of the victims, their pain and their distress, as well as the great difficulty of telling attacks. “The lives of the victims, is marred forever,” wrote the judge Couture, insisting on the numerous sequelae, including problems of alcohol and drugs.
Before making the seven-year sentence to the penitentiary, the judge Hubert Couture has reminded us of the current trend of the courts to impose more severe penalties. In the judgment Friesen in April 2020, the supreme Court indicated that more severe sentences should be imposed for sexual offences against children.
After his detention, it shall be prohibited to Christian Girard to be in public places frequented by minors.
