“Exemplary punishment”: a nurse who blamed a patient for abuse in jail for 28 months

A nurse guilty of sexually assaulting a vulnerable patient at Notre-Dame Hospital by giving her a sedative was sentenced to 28 months in prison, he who blamed the victim for having seduced him.

• Also read: He sexually abuses a patient: a former nurse does not want too long a sentence

• Also read: A nurse guilty of sexual assault on a vulnerable patient at Notre-Dame hospital

“An exemplary sentence is necessary to ensure collective deterrence and more particularly to emphasize to health professionals who benefit from a position of trust that any abuse will be severely punished,” insisted Judge Salvatore Mascia, Friday, at the courthouse. from Montreal.

Amrane Kacher wanted to avoid a long sentence in the dark on the pretext that his troubles with the law caused him to lose his job and that his wife wanted to leave him, but his wish was not granted.

With his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the ground, the 43-year-old man listened for a long time as the magistrate sealed his fate for the sexual crimes he committed in the spring of 2021.

The victim then presented himself at the hospital to undergo closed therapy related to his drug addiction.

“I had a drinking disorder that I wanted to fix with all my heart,” the woman explained during the trial.

“Totally implausible”

However, she had the misfortune of crossing paths with Kacher, who had started looking at her private parts under her jacket or even trying to touch her chest.

Until the day when, after administering a dose of Valium to the woman, he sexually assaulted her. The woman kept saying “no, no, no,” but Kacher ignored her.

“The defendant did not express remorse for his actions nor empathy for the harm suffered by the victim,” underlined Judge Mascia.

This observation echoes the fact that Kacher “reproaches the victim for having seduced him”. A version deemed “totally implausible” by the court.

Fear of denouncing

Furthermore, following the crime, the complainant, whose identity is protected by the court, did not dare to file a complaint, for fear of being “hated” by hospital staff if she denounced the man.

But while being stuck with her abuser, she eventually revealed the abuse. She was quickly taken care of, in order to be protected.

Kacher had initially denied everything, convinced that he would never be accused since it was his voice against the woman’s.

Since then, he has changed his version: he now swears that the actions taken were consensual. In a psychosexual evaluation, “his description of the victim and her motivations are full of stereotypes or prejudices,” Judge Mascia noted.

He alleges in particular that the complainant “set a trap” for him, that she positioned herself in a “suggestive manner” and had a “sexy outfit”.

M^e Annabelle Sheppard, from the Crown, welcomed the “clear message” sent by the court in this case.

“By imposing such a sentence, the court communicates society’s disapproval of certain crimes,” she stressed.

Amrane Kacher will be placed on the sex offenders register for the next 20 years.

– With the collaboration of Michaël Nguyen