Man jailed 15 years for trying to kill girl, 11

A St-Laurent borough resident has received a 15-year sentence for his attempt to murder an 11-year-old girl he knew very well.

The 45-year-old man, whose name cannot be published, was left with a nine-year prison term when Quebec Court Judge Sylvie Kovacevich delivered her decision at the Montreal courthouse on Thursday. He has been detained since his arrest in May 2013, hours after the crime was committed.

The man’s name cannot be published because the information might identify the victim in the case. Her identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban. The man was so close to the girl’s mother she thought of him as an uncle. Evidence heard during the trial indicates the man was having a secret affair with the girl’s mother when he strangled the girl with her own skipping rope on May 26, 2013.

The girl was left to die in an alley while it was raining outside. She regained consciousness and found help at the home of a friend who lived nearby. The Crown’s theory during the lengthy trial was that the man strangled the girl and molested her while she was unconscious. The man was also accused of sexual assault, but he was acquitted on that charge. The young girl’s training bra was torn after she regained consciousness.

The man testified in his own defence during the trial and tried to blame what happened on two men he did not know. He said he tried to protect the girl, but his version of what happened made little sense.

The victim also testified. She said she was watching television while alone with the man in her mother’s apartment when the man suddenly asked questions about a necklace she was wearing. During that conversation, the girl said, the man grabbed her skipping rope and began strangling her with it. As she struggled for breath, she fell to the floor and he climbed on top of her before she blacked out.