South Shore sexual-assault case takes a surprise turn
Suspect arrested for different crime
A lengthy investigation into a series of sexual assaults on women on the South Shore took a surprise turn recently as police stumbled upon a suspect by chance.
Sylvio Fortier, 45, appeared before a judge Tuesday afternoon at the Longueuil courthouse, where he was informed he faces 24 charges in the attacks of four women in Longueuil and Boucherville between May 7 and Nov. 13, 2011. Among the charges Fortier faces, three are attempted sexual assault, and another is sexual assault.
Fortier, a thin, bookish man with glasses and a goatee, leaned forward in the prisoner’s dock and apparently strained to listen as Quebec
“The charges touch on events that were particularly violent.” PROSECUTOR MARIE FRANCE GUILLEMETTE
Court Judge Marc Bisson explained what was happening with his case.
Fortier’s lawyer requested that an official reading of the charges into the court record be suspended, so no plea was entered, and prosecutor Marie France Guillemette objected to his release.
“The charges touch on events that were particularly violent, so that is why (the Crown objected to Fortier’s release) more so than his past,” Guillemette told reporters after the hearing.
In 2006, Fortier received a 15-month suspended sentence and three years of probation after he pleaded guilty to an armed sexual assault in Ste-Julie on July 16, 2004. According to provincial court records, it was Fortier’s sole previous criminal conviction.
Three of the women in the South Shore incidents were attacked late at night in a parking lot near the Longueuil métro station.
The first victim, a 21-yearold woman, was stunned by a Taser-like weapon as she approached her car. She managed to kick her attacker, who then fled.
A man sexually assaulted a 17-year-old woman in a parking lot after shocking her several times with the same type of weapon and placing her in handcuffs.
On July 21, 2011, an 18-yearold woman was pushed to the ground in the parking lot by a masked man, but she punched the assailant and screamed. The attacker fled as other people came to the woman’s aid.
The fourth attack occurred on Nov. 13, 2011, against a woman who was jogging on a bike path. She also managed to escape.
Longueuil police eventually linked the events and produced a composite sketch. But the series of attacks remained unsolved until the Montreal police arrested Fortier on Sept. 5 of this year as a suspect in a break-in at a residence on St-Denis St., near the Crémazie métro station.
A release issued by the Longueuil police states Fortier “was in possession of different objects of a sexual nature” when he was arrested.
The discovery was brought to the attention of the Montreal police sexual assault squad, and the investigation progressed to the point where the Longueuil police were informed they should take an interest in Fortier.
The case returns to court on Sept. 25.