Former Parti Quebecois (PQ) leader André Boisclair pleaded guilty Monday to sexually assaulting two young men he met online in various incidents. The 56-year-old appealed to the Montreal court on Monday, avoiding a trial after initially requesting a trial only from the judge after his arrest in 2020. He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault with the help of a third party against a victim in an incident in 2014. He also pleaded guilty to sexual assault in connection with an incident involving another man in 2015. According to an agreed statement of facts, he was 48 years old at the time of the first incident when he invited to his house a man around 20, whom he met on an online dating app. But when he arrived at Boisclair’s apartment, two other men were already there and the date turned into a nightmare, he said. Boisclair began taking drugs that were in full view, as heard from the court, and became aggressive. He held his victim by the torso and ordered his accomplices to sexually assault the young man, who had made it clear that he did not want to have sex. The young man went to the police and when his arrest warrant was reported by the media, a second man appeared with a very similar allegation about a date that went horribly wrong. In that case, the 22-year-old met Boisclair at his home. When he tried to leave, the former politician tried to restrain him in order to impose himself on him. The identities of the victims are protected by a ban on publication. Both men read statements of emotional impact to the victims, telling the court that they knew who Boisclair was and trusted him at the time. Someone said he was a young, ambitious social activist interested in politics, but that after the attack, his life was turned upside down. He left university before sinking into deep depression and is contemplating suicide. The second victim said that he was barely accepting his own exit at that moment and that the sexual assault injured him to a point that took him years to start dating again. To this day, he still lives in shame and can not trust others. Prosecutor Jerome Laflamme praised the complainants for their presence. “Sexually assault cases are always difficult, but it’s my job. I have to say that the plaintiffs in this file made my job easy because I am always present and cooperative,” Laflamme said. The Crown and the defense issued a joint statement on the sentence of two years less imprisonment per day for the crimes. The judge told the court that the verdict would be handed down on July 18. Until then, Boisclair is free on bail. Boisclair waived his right to a preliminary inquiry in both cases last September and chose to go straight to trial only before the judge before Monday’s appeal. The former party leader also faced a charge of sexual assault with a gun in the first case, but the charge was dropped Monday afternoon. Boisclair was a provincial cabinet minister and served as PQ leader between 2005 and 2007 when the party was in opposition. He later served as Quebec’s general representative in New York from 2012 to 2013 and was president of the Quebec Urban Development Institute from 2016 until his arrest. With files from the Canadian Press
