Sexually assaulted by mayor and out of work

MONTREAL • Caroline Lamarre was an office worker at the town hall of BaieTrinité, Que., when the mayor began harassing her in 2011. His compliments about her looks soon progressed to groping, and a court would later hear that on one occasion he cornered her and grabbed her breasts and genitals through her clothing.

Lamarre reported Mayor Denis Lejeune to police, and at his 2015 trial she testified he fondled her “every chance he got,” reported Le Soleil.

Following a week of testimony, including from both the victim and the defendant, Lejeune was convicted of one charge of sexual assault. He was acquitted of another sexual assault charge and one of harassment. In January, 2016, he received a suspended sentence of 24 months probation and was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and donate $4,000 to a fund for victims of crime.

A year’s passed, and while his appeal slowly makes its way through the courts, Lejeune continues to preside over council meetings. Lamarre remains out of work, under doctor’s orders not to return to her municipal job to avoid contact with her abuser. Last year she went to court to have the publication ban on her name lifted so she and her supporters can speak out on what they consider an injustice.

“The mayor has been found guilty. He is a criminal, an assailant, but he can continue to sit on council, which is completely twisted,” Charlaine Sirois, a representative with Lamarre’s union, CUPE, said recently.

“I’m anxious to turn the page,” Lamarre, 37, said. “In life, every moment is important, but I feel like my life is on hold.”

At the time of Lejeune’s sentencing, Quebec law said elected municipal officials convicted of a crime were obliged to step down only if they were sentenced to a jail term of 30 days or more. In response in part to the Lejeune case, the law was changed last year to remove the requirement of a jail sentence before officials convicted of a crime are disqualified from holding office.

But even that change has not affected Lejeune because his appeal has not been heard.

Repeated messages to Lejeune were not returned.