Remember that the civil suit took place in parallel with the criminal trial that Bélisle underwent in recent months. The abandonment of the prosecution of the Scouts de l’Érable has no impact on the guilty verdict pronounced by Judge Serge Champoux in the criminal chamber.
The Scouts de l’Érable, who criticized Bélisle and Boyce for having usurped the name “scouts” in the organization of a trip to Florida and during two camps held in the region, signified having withdrawn their “claim in court against the defendants, and the latter, through their undersigned lawyers, accept such withdrawal without costs”.
The Scouts thus claimed from the two defendants $40,000 in non-pecuniary damages and $52,110 in loss of membership fees, for a total of $92,110. An additional $20,000 in punitive damages was requested from Raphaël Bélisle.
The Maple Scouts have abandoned their legal action against Raphaël Bélisle and Thomas Boyce. (Maxime Picard/La Tribune)
President of the Scouts de l’Érable, Philippe Arsenault indicates that this decision was taken due to “the administrative cumbersomeness of the procedure”. “As our organization is mainly made up of volunteers, it became difficult to complete this file,” he said in a telephone interview.
Furthermore, “the financial position in which the two defendants are is not very desirable, so we preferred to give up,” summarizes Philippe Arsenault.
Two sides to a coin
However, Raphaël Bélisle’s lawyer, Me Hugo Champoux, presents a completely different side of the coin. According to him, the prosecution was abandoned because it was ill-founded. For him, this withdrawal is a relief for his client.
“It is also a recognition that the appeal lodged was ill-founded against him. This is a complete withdrawal of the suit. We have completely and definitively put an end to this affair,” he said.
“There was questioning by the representative of the scouts in this matter and as a result, a complete withdrawal of the claim was offered against both defendants, which puts an end to the lawsuit,” rejoices the attorney working at DLB Avocats.
Future
Despite the abandonment of the suit, Mr. Arsenault persisted and signed: “We have argued from the beginning that what happened did not happen in a scouting context. Our organization does everything to ensure a mechanism that allows young people to be protected as much as possible,” he reiterates.
He indicates that the Maple Scouts are “quietly” turning the page on this episode of Raphaël Bélisle. “The number of members is growing,” summarizes Mr. Arsenault.
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