An octogenarian from Montreal caught up in his past as a child abuser hopes to obtain leniency from the court due to his health problems, while the victim for his part recalled to what extent he had ruined his life.
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“He killed the child that I was, everyone seemed to want to ignore what had happened, I felt broken for decades,” testified Rhéal Landry’s victim, this Thursday, at the Montreal courthouse.
With a trembling voice, the woman whose identity is protected by the court, testified that her 87-year-old attacker had destroyed her in the 1970s, when she was only 7 years old.
“I never felt safe again,” she said. Then, the other attacks worsened my confusion, my guilt and my distress.
Her father against her
That’s because at the time, Landry was influential in the towing industry. Close to the victim’s father, he occasionally went to his home, where he abused the child. The abuse lasted four years, until the child’s mother caught him red-handed, and he moved away from the family.
But that didn’t stop the father from coming to the trial, to side with the abuser and essentially assert that his daughter was a liar.
“I was deeply shaken, my own father testified in favor of my attacker,” the victim said. “I knew then that I had lost my father, his dear friend.”
Judge Julie Riendeau, however, believed the victim, so Landry was found guilty of indecent assault.
Peaceful Retreat
He now has to serve his sentence and, obviously, he intends to use his health problems to obtain leniency from the court for his sexual crimes.
“I have no mobility, that’s harsh,” he said, explaining that his accommodation had to be adapted to his physical condition.
Landry then set about describing his peaceful daily life as a retiree, in total contrast to that of the victim, who is undergoing therapy to alleviate her injuries, even though five decades have passed since the abuse. The octogenarian recounted walks, his use of the Internet to find cooking recipes and how he prepares meals for his partner.
“I try to keep myself busy,” he testified, insisting that he “prepares everything” for his wife, implying that if he were sent to prison, his wife would be left without it.
The judge will announce in September whether she is leaning more towards the Crown, which is asking for five years of incarceration, or rather towards the defence, which is asking for home imprisonment.
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