Dany Boivin, engineer, appeared on Friday morning at the Sherbrooke courthouse to respond to eight charges linked to cases of sexual assault towards a minor.
During this fifth appearance in connection with the same series of crimes, the man pleaded guilty to three of these leaders. Before judge Alexandre Tardif, Boivin admitted that his gestures were motivated by sexual intentions.
The reproach events took place over a period of about ten years, between 2010 and 2020. According to the information presented in court, the man maintained close ties with the family of the victim, being a longtime friend.
“I could never have imagined such betrayal”
The victim, identified under the fictitious first name Léa, underwent the first assaults from the age of 9. In one of the incidents described in court, Boivin made the child sit on him while he was erect, before flattering his body.
On another occasion, he also tried to introduce his hands under the girl’s sweater and palpate her chest on her pretext that he was cold in the hands during a boat trip.
While she was only 11 years old, Léa accepted the help of Boivin so that he could attach her swimsuit top and then felt the naked penis of the accused rubbing in the ark of her back.
“He went down to the basement, things happened there, and he went up after sitting at the table with us,” said Léa’s mother, visibly upset.
The gestures would have been committed mainly in family contexts, often within the same home of Léa’s parents, who have never suspected man of such intentions. “He had our confidence and he betrayed us. He used us, he broke our child, ”added the mother.
Léa’s mother also says he fears that other children were exposed to similar gestures.
A broken silence
The victim would have hesitated to denounce the facts for several years, for fear of destroying the bond of friendship between his parents and the accused. It was only after the pandemic, while Boivin would have maintained inappropriate contact via social networks, that the girl found the courage to confide, according to her mother.
“There is not a relationship worth more than the relationship we have with [notre fille]”Said the mother, who says still living with the guilt of having welcomed the attacker at home. The latter also says herself extremely proud of her young daughter’s courage, and despite the injuries left by these events, she says that she was able to find exceptional support through her social network.
As for the accused, his next appearance in court is scheduled for September 2. Boivin will have to undergo sexological and psychological examinations which can determine the level of risk of recurrence.
