Computer savvy pedophile guilty of abuse at foster home
Created sophisticated network for sharing forms of child pornography
A Lachine resident who was the nucleus of a computer-savvy network of pedophiles is facing the possibility of being declared a dangerous offender, after having been convicted Friday on child pornography charges and for having sexually abused two young boys while he worked as a teacher in foster homes.
André Faivre, 70, rarely looked toward Quebec Court Judge Yvan Poulin as he read from a 51-page decision that found the confessed pedophile guilty of 13 charges he faced since January 2016, when the Sûreté du Québec arrested Faivre and 14 other men in Project Malaise. The investigation was focused on men who exchanged photos, essays and other forms of child pornography through a computer network created by Faivre.
Prosecutor Cynthia Gyenizse informed Poulin that she will likely request that Faivre be declared a dangerous or long-term offender when the case enters the sentencing stage in November. Her decision will be based on whatever is contained in a pre-sentencing report ordered by Poulin on Friday. Lawyers from both sides will be expected to announce their positions on how they expect Faivre should be sentenced on Nov. 27.
Faivre, who maintains that being a pedophile is a sexual orientation and therefore should be accepted by society, began the network called Web Bleu in 2003. Members exchanged emails through computer servers Faivre controlled. Beginning in February 2015, the SQ sent an undercover agent to infiltrate the group through Faivre.
The agent, who posed as a pedophile attracted to a boy who lived next door to him, not only uncovered ongoing crimes but also was counselled by Faivre on how he should approach the boy. As the agent and Faivre continued to meet at Faivre’s residence on George V Ave. throughout 2015, the undercover cop learned of past crimes. While he believed he was counselling the agent, Faivre told him how he had performed sexual acts on boys who were in foster homes where Faivre was employed as a teacher.
The SQ found a few boys who were the subjects of Faivre’s stories but one refused to testify in court. On Friday, Poulin convicted Faivre of abusing one boy at a foster home where Faivre worked roughly 35 years ago and another boy at a foster home where Faivre worked between 2000 and 2001.
Both of the victims testified during Faivre’s trial. One said Faivre would come into his bedroom and perform oral sex on him on a regular basis and did so “about 30 times.” When the man was contacted by the SQ in 2016, he was shown a photo of himself, when he was a boy, and Faivre. The photo was found in a suitcase the SQ seized from Faivre’s home in 2016. During one meeting with the agent, Faivre pulled the suitcase out and showed him some of the 400 photographs it contained of boys, many of them shirtless.
The other victim said Faivre abused him while he was at a foster home with a dozen other boys who were all between the ages of eight and 12. He said the abuse began when he was told to take a shower to calm down. He said Faivre reached inside the shower and touched his penis. The undercover agent found evidence that Faivre considered the boy to have been “his favourite.”