One of the three coaches of the Saint-Laurent high school basketball program arrested in 2022 in a case of sexual exploitation against a teenage girl will plead guilty on Tuesday.
Posted at 12:44 p.m.
The trial of <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/02/the-accused-basketball-coach-wants-his-freedom-back/" title="The accused basketball coach wants his freedom back”>Charles-Xavier Boislard, 45, was scheduled to begin Monday morning at the Montreal courthouse. It was planned to last one week. The proceedings were, however, postponed until the next day, since the ex-basketball coach decided to plead guilty.
When the complainant attended high school, Mr. Boislard held the position of coach in the same establishment, said M.e Jérôme Laflamme, prosecutor in the case. “ [Au moment des faits] he was no longer his trainer, but remained present throughout the years,” he explained in court on Monday. The defense admitted the presence of a bond of trust between the victim and the accused.
The latter, currently at liberty, was present in the courtroom accompanied by his lawyer Me Eddy Ménard.
Judge Éric De Champlain will hear the summary of the facts Tuesday morning. The two parties do not agree on the age of the victim at the time of the events: the defense asserts that she was 17 years old, while the Crown considers that she was 16 years old. The prosecutor requested that a pre-sentence report be produced, since there will be no joint suggestion on the sentence.
Daniel Lacasse and Robert Luu, two other former coaches at the same school, were arrested at the same time as Charles-Xavier Boislard two years ago following an investigation. The trial of Daniel Lacasse for sexual exploitation of a teenage athlete, while he was a basketball coach, took place last October and should continue this winter. The complainant claimed in her testimony to have had numerous sexual relations with Daniel Lacasse when she was 16 and 17 years old.
