A dangerous sexual sadistic that was caught in a transitional house with a secret cellular cell filled with juvenile pornography was acquitted. Judge Joëlle Roy accuses investigators of having “oblique reasons” by unjustly searching the cell phone.
What to know
Sexual sadistic Patrick Lévesque Paquette was acquitted by a chief of possession of juvenile pornography.
The judge criticizes the police for obtaining a search warrant under “oblique reasons” to search the accused’s cellular.
This offender has already been sentenced to eight years of detention for kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman.
“Contempt” and “laxity” of the State, “abusive excavation”, “blatant violation” of rights: the judge of the Court of Quebec severely criticizes the work of the police in a decision made public in mid-July (its unwinding decision was rendered at the end of May at the Montreal courthouse).
This file concerns Patrick Lévesque Paquette, a 34-year-old ex-military who made headlines in 2015 due to the sadism of his crime. He had kidnapped and kidnapped a young woman in a motel room for 14 hours. He had struck it and sexually assaulted it repeatedly and filmed everything to “keep a memory”.
Without remorse, he had been sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment and declared a delinquent to control. He had been subjected to a long -term monitoring of five years. According to a report, he fantasizes about young girls and represents an important risk of recurrence. He has many judicial history.
First released in July 2021, Patrick Lévesque Paquette found himself in a transitional house supervised by the parole services. He returned to prison a few times for having raped his conditions. In August 2023, when he returned to detention, a speaker discovered a cell phone in his room, even if he was forbidden to own one.
The police then obtained a search warrant to determine who belonged to the phone. By searching the aircraft, a policeman discovered juvenile pornography by chance (3854 files).
This led to obtaining a second term and accusations of possession of juvenile pornography against Patrick Lévesque Paquette.
However, the first search mandate violated the accused’s constitutional rights, according to judge Roy, who decided to exclude this proof. In doing so, the crown had no evidence to present at the trial. The offender was therefore acquitted.
According to the police, it was necessary to search the phone to prove out of all reasonable doubt that it belonged to the offender. Because at the trial, Patrick Lévesque Paquette could have accused another resident or a member of the staff of having put the aircraft in his bag, argued the crown.
“Laxity” of the investigator
But for judge Roy, these fears do not hold water. She was not necessary, according to her, to obtain a mandate to prove that the cellular belonged to the accused. The proof: only Patrick Lévesque Paquette and employees held the key to the room.
The judge reproaches Sergeant-Dettective Pascal Fortier-the one who asked for the mandate-his “laxity” and his “absence of intellectual rigor”. According to the judge, the investigator has shown “negligence” by not respecting the basic rules in matters of constitutional rights of an accused.
Photo Martin Chamberland, La Presse Archives
Judge Joëlle Roy
The judge also does not believe that a police officer discovered by “chance” of juvenile pornography in the apparatus.
“This is a lack of rigor of the police officer as well as his desire to find incriminating evidence against the applicant by searching the entire cell, without minimal diligence,” asserts Judge Roy in her decision.
In fact, for the judge, this search mandate is nothing less than a “fishing expedition” of the police (an illegal practice), motivated in the criminal past of the offender.
The judge even criticizes the investigator Pascal Fortier for supporting the offender’s sexual deviations in his declaration to obtain a mandate. Such tendentious and inappropriate information […] Pejoratively furnish [le document] and blacken the image ‘image, according to the judge.
On the other hand, the search mandate should never have been issued so widely. The justice of the peace Magistrate who authorized the mandate allowed the police to ratify “far too wide”, notes judge Roy, by giving them “unlimited access” to the data stored in the accused’s cellular.
To conclude, the judge maintains that this decision is necessary to “maintain public confidence towards the administration of justice, nothing less”.
Now in freedom, Patrick Lévesque Paquette faces several charges for not having respected the conditions for his long -term surveillance. He will return to court at the end of August.
Me Alexandra Guillaume Sam Soto represented the public prosecutor in this cause, while Me Daphne Bélanger defended the accused.
