An actor who sexually assaulted two women in their sleep was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, although the judge said the “excessively lenient” sentence was “bordering on the unreasonable.”
“If the lawyers had left me the discretionary power to pronounce the sentence, it would have been much more severe than that suggested today,” insisted Judge Manlio del Negro on Monday, endorsing the sentence proposed by the Crown prosecutor and Émile Beaudry’s lawyer.
Indeed, judges must ratify common suggestions between the parties unless they are unreasonable, by virtue of a decision of the Supreme Court.
The actor, who only played a few small roles in Quebec television series including Arrondissement 31was convicted of four sexual assaults last summer.
Émile Beaudry was sentenced to 42 months in prison for sexually assaulting two women while they slept.
Screenshot of Who’s Playing Who? website.
Judge Del Negro emphasized at the Montreal courthouse that this case was “one of the most reprehensible causes of [s]a career as a lawyer.
“The accused used sexual violence to take revenge on his intimate partners. […] “He didn’t want to make love, he did it in order to dehumanize them, to despise them,” he said.
While she slept
Émile Beaudry, 43, had non-consensual sex on two occasions with the first victim while she was sleeping.
“Go back to sleep, you look so beautiful, it won’t take long,” he replied to the woman when she woke up and asked him to stop.
The actor admitted to being angry that he “hurt” her during text exchanges after their breakup.
But that did not prevent him from twice repeating these acts, described as “selfish, brutal and cruel” by the judge, with another intimate partner.
The woman decided to cut ties the day after the second attack, since she had warned the accused that if a similar incident happened again, “it wouldn’t happen,” she testified at trial.
Safer
The two victims finally decided to file a complaint in 2019, after realizing that they had experienced similar attacks.
They both testified that they still feared not being safe at home, in their room.
“The fear of rape has become overwhelming and influences my choices,” explains the first victim, who suffers from post-traumatic stress.
During the trial, the actor argued that the victims had consented to the sexual activities. This “improbable”, “opportunistic and contrary to common sense” version contrasted with the text messages put into evidence, according to Judge del Negro.
“You are a good manipulator who believes himself to be finer, more beautiful and more intelligent than others. […] But you didn’t deceive me,” he stressed.
“You are going to receive your Christmas present today. The sentence is a gift that society gives you,” emphasized the magistrate shortly before Émile Beaudry was sentenced to 42 months in penitentiary and handcuffed in front of a crowded courtroom.
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