Serial abuser gets 15 1/2 years

Senior who ‘preyed’ on children designated a long-term offender

A serial child-abuser whose crimes in northern Alberta stretch back to the late 1970s was sentenced Wednesday to 15 1/2 years in prison.

Armand Lacoursiere, 68, sexually abused seven young people and made child pornography with some that he kept as a memento.

His numerous abuses were first reported to Athabasca RCMP in February 2012 by a boy who had been abused for seven years, starting when he was nine. Police then began to search for more victims.

“There is no doubt, Mr. Lacoursiere, that your depravities are significant and harmed a lot of young people,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sterl i ng Sanderman said.

“You preyed upon people of both sexes and you lack insight into the tremendous psychological harm you have done. You’ve committed truly wicked acts.”

Lacoursiere, a balding man with a beard to his chest, showed no emotion as he was sentenced. He said nothing.

Though Sanderman concluded that Lacoursiere met the criteria to be designated a dangerous offender, he declined to sentence the senior to an indefinite prison sentence.

Instead, the judge designated him a long-term offender and ordered a decadelong community supervision order after the sentence is served.

According to a psychiatric report, Lacoursiere is a high risk to reoffend.

The victims knew Lacoursiere as a family friend. He groomed them before the abuse, court heard. In the case of the first victim to come forward, Lacoursiere sometimes looked after him, took him to a go-kart track and to Edmonton watch the Eskimos play. The abuse occurred at home and in Lacoursiere’s car.

Over decades, he gave some of his victims candy to keep them quiet, then money, alcohol and cigarettes as they grew up.

When RCMP searched Lacoursiere’s trailer, he had thousands of pornographic images on his computer and pinned to his bedroom walls. He also had photos of a girl he abused and impregnated years earlier, for which he served three years in prison.

In July, Lacoursiere entered guilty pleas to 16 charges related to sexual assault and child pornography.

After credit for time served in pre-trial custody, Lacoursiere has 13 years left to serve.