Bastien gets 50 months for role in son’s death
‘ You stole from this child his right to life and the right to grow up’: judge
A man who beat his four- year- old son and turned a blind eye to the abuse his partner was inflicting as well, until the boy was killed, has been sentenced to a 50- month prison term. Quebec Court Judge Louis Legault said society has to protect its most vulnerable when sentencing Francis Bastien, 32, at the Montreal courthouse on Tuesday.
“Even animals are capable of protecting their children,” Legault said while Bastien sat stone- faced in the courtroom, his face turning a deep shade of red at least a few times. With time served factored into the sentence, Bastien was left with 46 months to serve. “You stole from this child his right to life and the right to grow up.”
Bastien’s son, Jeremy BastienPerron, was killed by Bastien’s girlfriend, Stéphanie Meunier, 35, on Dec. 6, 2008, inside Meunier’s apartment. The boy and his father had moved in with Meunier, who had children of her own, five weeks before the tragedy. The autopsy revealed that Jeremy died after suffering a severe blow to his head, but also that he had been severely beaten over the course of several days before he died. Wounds all over his body revealed the boy had been struck at least 27 times and probably spent the last day of his life in excruciating pain. His testicles were badly bruised and a large open wound across his stomach had gone untreated for at least a day before Meunier delivered the fatal blow to the boy’s head.
In 2011, Meunier was convicted of first- degree murder and is serving a life sentence inside a penitentiary. Bastien had been away from the apartment for six days and was taking part in a clinical trial of medication when his son was killed. After Meunier was charged with Jeremy’s murder, Bastien admitted he had abused his son as well.
Last year, on March 18, Bastien, 32, pleaded guilty to criminal negligence, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon, while a charge of manslaughter through criminal negligence was withdrawn.
A pre- sentence report prepared for the court found Bastien, whose parents died when he was 11, is a needy person who still must work on his emotional dependence. Bastien admitted he stayed in a relationship with Meunier even while she encouraged him to strike his son as a means to discipline the boy, something Bastien had never done previously.
“He sacrificed his son out of a need for love from ( Meunier),” Legault said. “He became an unworthy, mean and violent father.”
Julie Perron, who had Jeremy during a very brief relationship with Bastien, cried while Legault read from his judgment, in particular a detailed list of the injuries the boy suffered before he died.
“I imagine ( the sentence) is enough, but it won’t bring ( Jeremy) back,” Perron told reporters outside the courtroom. She said she hopes that the sentence sends a message to others who fail to do anything in the face of obvious child abuse. “( Bastien) lied to everyone for two years, after Jeremy died. He even came to my work to console me.”
Prosecutor Michel Pennou had asked last year that Bastien be sentenced to a five- year prison term.
“This isn’t the worst sentence he will receive,” Pennou said. “The worst sentence is going on with the rest of his life knowing what he did.”