A 34-year-old man who coaxed young boys into playing video games and then sexually assaulted them was sentenced Monday to 42 months in prison.
Samuel Lacasse-Couture made two victims, young boys who were seven and eight years old during the attacks which occurred in Val-Alain and Val-des-Sources.
He pleaded guilty Monday to two charges of sexual contact, he who admits the facts, but claims to have no memory of them due to his state of intoxication during them.
The first events occurred in 2021 in the apartment of the accused, who lived in the same building as the parents of his young victim.
According to the agreed summary of facts, the door to Lacasse-Couture’s apartment was often open and the boy occasionally stopped there to pet his animals. One thing led to another and the attacker gained his trust by talking to him about video games, going so far as to invite him to play at his house.
Touching
During the child’s last visit, his father found him without a sweater in the living room of the accused, who defended himself by saying that the little one was hot.
“That’s not true, Dad, it’s because he said he wanted to give me a massage,” the child replied.
In the winter of 2023, the young boy made verbal comments to his mother, evoking touching by Samuel Lacasse-Couture. On one occasion, while playing video games, the defendant asked him if he could “play with his penis.”
-“The child explained that he understood that he had to let him do it otherwise he would no longer be able to come and play the console,” recounted the Crown prosecutor in the case, Ms.e Mélanie Tremblay.
Caught in bed with a child
The context of the offenses in the second case is similar, Lacasse-Couture having gained the trust of the son of a long-time friend.
In the winter of 2023, while he was in bed in a bedroom, the attacker invited the young boy to join him in playing games on his cell phone. The child’s father then entered the room and saw his son with the pajamas down to his knees as he lifted the covers. Lacasse-Couture was erect at this time.
When met by authorities, the child explained that the accused had touched his private parts.
Marked victims
The three-and-a-half-year sentence imposed Monday stems from a joint suggestion by the parties and takes into account the 34-year-old’s guilty plea, which spares his young victims a grueling testimony in court. The two children are still marked to this day, explained the public prosecutor, citing, in particular, behavioral problems, “inner anger” and comments of a sexual nature “too advanced for their age”.
Deducting pre-trial detention, Samuel Lacasse-Couture will have 22 months in prison to serve. He will then be subject to a three-year probation period and will be placed on the sex offenders register for 20 years.
The accused, who was represented by Mr.e Marie-Laure Généreux, to be in a park, a schoolyard or other public place where there are children for 12 years.
Related News :