He pleads guilty to one count of luring | High school teacher wanted to sleep with 14-year-old girl

A former high school teacher who was caught in a large operation to combat child pornography admitted his guilt on Monday. Gilles Croteau attempted to have sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl without knowing… that he was talking to an undercover agent.

The 59-year-old man from Gatineau pleaded guilty Monday at the Longueuil courthouse to one count of luring. He was also accused of producing and distributing child pornography, but the charges were dropped by the prosecution.

At the time of the events, Gilles Croteau was teaching secondary 3 mathematics at Collège Trinité, in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville. He has no longer been employed by the school since February 2023.

“To our knowledge, no employee or student, current or former, would have been involved in the acts alleged against Mr. Croteau at the time he was employed. Rest assured that we have taken all necessary measures,” he told The Pressthe spokesperson for Trinity College.

The extremely succinct summary of the facts presented by the Crown prosecutor on Monday tells us very little about the circumstances of the offense.

In November 2022, Gilles Croteau had sexual exchanges on the IRC platform with an undercover agent who posed as a 14-year-old teenager. Under the pseudonym Charles, he encouraged his interlocutor to have sexual contact.

The content of the exchanges was not summarized in court and was instead sealed. The facts presented also do not allow us to know whether Gilles Croteau used a particular modus operandi.

According to a police press release published at the time of his arrest, Gilles Croteau also used the pseudonyms Francis and Jack to communicate online.

“Investigative elements lead us to believe that Gilles Croteau could have caused other victims,” the Longueuil metropolitan police department indicated at the time.

Gilles Croteau will return to court next July for observations on the sentence to be imposed. The judge ordered the preparation of a pre-sentence report with a sexological component.

The accused was arrested in the winter of 2023 as part of Operation RECENTER to fight against child pornography. Around thirty men were caught by the authorities.