Observations at Patrick Chénard’s conviction took place on Friday at the Rimouski courthouse. The public prosecutor asked, during this hearing, that the massage therapist and kinesiologist, who was convicted of sexual assault in January, received a “sample” sentence.
The criminal and penal prosecuting attorney, Me Normand Morneau-Deschênes, was the first to make his recommendations, followed by the defense attorney, Me Caroline Bérubé.
On the Crown side, a six -year sentence was requested. Defendant’s attorney suggested to convict Jules Berthelot that he impose a three -year prison sentence on his client.
During the pleadings, lawyers cited a similar case, that of massage therapist Jean-François Morrison of Montreal. The man was convicted of sexually assaulting 21 people and received seven years in prison.
The lawyers begged for their points by comparing Patrick Chénard’s situation to that of a Montreal massage therapist.
The victims of the accused were present in the courtroom to find out about the sequence of events.
Patrick Chénard never looked up at his victims. One of them spoke to him, reading a text he had written. The accused showed no emotion.
Judge Berthelot will give his decision on the verdict to be imposed on the individual before July. A hearing must also be held Tuesday in Rimouski to decide whether the accused will remain incarcerated pending trial.
Patrick Chénard faced 11 counts of sexual assault and a count of sexual exploitation for acts that occurred in the performance of his duties in November 2015 in Trois-Rivières, and between January 2016 and April 2018 in Rimouski.
He was acquitted of another number of sexual assaults for which no evidence was presented.
Source: Radio-Canada
