A young woman who was allegedly sexually exploited by a former basketball coach when she was a teenager at Saint-Laurent high school took the witness stand this morning to recount the hell she says she endured .
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“I met him when I was 12, I was in primary school and he was the organizer of a training camp,” explained the alleged victim of Daniel Lacasse, this Tuesday at the Palais de justice of Montreal.
With her head held high in front of judge Alexandre Dalmau, the young woman began her highly anticipated testimony against a former basketball coach who allegedly sexually exploited her from 2010 to 2012.
The complainant was 16 years old at the time.
At the time, Lacasse, 45, was leading the women’s basketball program at Saint-Laurent High School. Enjoying an appreciable aura, he would have taken the opportunity to target a teenage girl, who was very vulnerable at the time.
“He had control, he decided what was done,” explained the complainant, adding that the accused began to get closer to her from secondary 2.
And as the teenager came from a precarious background, Lacasse would have started to “help” her, for example by finding the resources she needed. This was two years before the alleged sexual exploitation began.
Harmful climate
Lacasse’s arrest in February 2022 also created a shock wave at the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Service Center, especially since two other basketball coaches, Charles-Xavier Boilard and Robert Luu, had also been arrested.
Charles-Xavier Boislard and Robert Luu, of Saint-Laurent Secondary School, are accused of sexual crimes against minors.
Photos courtesy, SPVM
The Ministry of Education then launched an investigation, which lifted the veil on a harmful climate among the basketball players at this school, with inappropriate behavior that no one reported.
Thus, according to the document reported by our Bureau of Investigation, female basketball players, then teenagers, had to endure a harmful climate marked by inappropriate behavior.
The norm, however, was to endure, because no one dared to speak. And in the rare cases of reporting, nothing was due to lack of communication between stakeholders.
One of the ministry’s recommendations was to better equip school service centers and federations to change cultures and better protect young people.
Lacasse, which is defended by Me Eddy Ménard, pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to last seven days. Me Jérôme Laflamme officiates for the Crown.
