An educator specializing in schools was sentenced to four years of penitentiary for having sexually exploited an autistic teenager under his responsibility. “In love”, Marie-Sun Gascon continued to see her victim even after his arrest.
The 45-year-old Mercier resident pleaded guilty to several charges last Tuesday at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse: sexual exploitation, minor lure, non-compliance with court conditions and sex contacts on a person with disabilities when she was in a situation of authority.
Recently graduated in psychoeducation, Marie-Soleil Gascon worked at the Rivière-du-Nord school service center, in the Laurentians. According to her LinkedIn profile, she said she had an interest in young people on the “spectrum of autism”.
At the start of the 2024 school year, the specialized educator (TES, in jargon) took charge of Jeremiah*, a 16 -year -old boy who received several diagnoses, including a autism spectrum disorder (TSA) and a deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity. He has a school delay, but no “intellectual delay”.
« [Jérémie] is not able to find their way back in time, a concept which is very abstract for him because of his TSA. He has little esteem of him, an attachment disorder and does not manage his emotions well, ”read the presentation of the facts deposited before the court.
Meetings after school
Shortly after their meeting, Marie-Soleil Gascon has sex with Jérémie in her car in an isolated sector of Prévost.
According to the teenager’s account, the accused quickly took control. She snatched his pants to him and went up on him. In short, he was an “object” for her. “She was Rough,” he told investigators.
Their “relationship” was spread over several weeks in the fall of 2024. Each day, they joined after school. Marie-Soleil Gascon said he wanted him to be of age and initiated him to make “attention”, because people had doubts in relation to their relationship, she said.
The forties wrote to the teenager, bored of her body “on her” and sent her photos of her private parts. The boy was “in love” with his TES, reveal their correspondence.
Non-compliance with conditions
Jérémie confided in a speaker in mid-November. A few days later, the accused was noted from his duties by her employer. Then, the following month, she was accused of many crimes. However, she was released under strict conditions, including that of not communicating with Jeremiah.
However, Marie-Soleil Gascon laughed at the conditions of the court.
When she returned to freedom, she continued to discuss in secret with Jeremiah on two applications used by young people, Discord et Twitch. Meanwhile, Jérémie “disorganized” at school.
Arrested again last May, Marie-Soleil Gascon admitted to having had two sexual relations with Jérémie in a hotel in the last year. She told the police “to be in love” with Jérémie. “It’s stronger than she. She says she is impulsive and carefree, ”says the presentation of the facts.
She had been detained since her second arrest.
The crown prosecutor, me Estée Pouliot-Voukirakis, and the defense lawyer, Me Yves Poupart presented a joint recommendation of sentence of four years of penitentiary, including six months for non-compliance with the conditions. Judge Marie-Ève Landreville ratified this sentence.
Marie-Soleil Gascon will be registered for 20 years in the register of sex offenders.
Note that the delinquent is not a member of the Order of Psychoeducators and Psychoeducators of Quebec.
* Fictive first name
