A former mathematics teacher who tried to lure a 14-year-old girl online without realizing that she was actually a policewoman has just been sentenced to a year in prison, during which he will have to learn to stop victimizing yourself.
• Also read: Pinned during a vast operation: a deviant professor unknowingly lured an undercover agent
“The real victim is my family and my loved ones,” said Gilles Croteau before blaming his ex-spouse or his social isolation for his sexual crimes.
But if the fallen teacher tries by all means to avoid responsibility, that did not prevent him from being thrown in prison this Thursday at the Longueuil courthouse, in connection with computer deception committed in 2022.
At the time, the 59-year-old accused was teaching at Collège Trinité in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville. According to our information, he was also a women’s volleyball coach.
“We expect a teacher to set an example,” said Judge Ann Mary Beauchemin this Thursday.
From school
Instead, Croteau used the school’s Internet network to go to a website where young people exchange ideas. Under the pseudonym Charles, he then began chatting with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
“Is a girl your age sexually active?” the teacher then asked his interlocutor, then asserting that her parents would “freak out” if they knew who she was chatting with.
Other sexually explicit discussions followed, all initiated by Croteau, without him suspecting that the teenager was in fact a police officer on command duty. Shortly after, the deviant teacher was handcuffed as part of a large-scale raid carried out by the Sûreté du Québec.
“He was fired immediately afterwards,” recalled the judge.
First accused in connection with child pornography, Croteau pleaded guilty to luring, for the nine conversations he had with the police officer.
Il minimise
But even if he admitted his wrongs, the accused then worked to minimize his crimes, blaming “emotional suffering”, or even on his ex-partner who did not give him enough sex to his taste.
“He blames the police who [selon lui] wanted to track their statistics [en l’arrêtant]added the magistrate. I haven’t heard that he has any remorse or regrets.”
Faced with this lack of introspection, there was no question of Croteau receiving home confinement, as suggested by his lawyer David Leclair. The judge thus leaned on the side of Ms. Virginie Leblond of the Crown, who asked to send a strong message that children must be protected from sexual predators.
Once Croteau completes his sentence, he will be required to serve three years of probation. He will also be prohibited from frequenting several places where children may be present.
Finally, he will be placed on the sex offenders register for 20 years.
