A Drummondville resident in his twenties was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl who adored him and considered him his big brother.
Jacob St-François, 24, literally abused his victim’s trust. “She said, ‘He’s got it all.’ She saw him […] like his big brother, ”explained Crown prosecutor Vicky Smith, at the Drummondville courthouse, at the time of sentencing.
St-François abused the girl about 10 times.
The facts date back to January 2020 when a report was made to the Sûreté du Québec for illegal downloading and sharing of child pornography on the web. Jacob St-François was arrested and 317 files of child pornography were discovered, mostly on his cell phone.
These first criminal charges led the victim to report him for assaulting her for four years. Charges of sexual interference were thus added to his file.
Four years of aggression
“These sexual assaults completely destroyed me from the inside”, said the victim in court, specifying that she had “suffered in silence during these four long years”.
“While I cried every night from fear, anger and sadness, you were living your good life […] How could you do this to me?!” questioned the one who is now a teenager.
“I felt like your sex object […] I no longer have any self-confidence, I am demolished,” lamented the victim.
Judge Ménard preaches
Quebec Court judge Marie-Josée Ménard lectured the attacker in court on Friday. “No self-respecting society would accept an adult meeting their sexual needs on a child who at the time was about 10 years old,” she said. The attacker was about 20 years old.
“If it was your sister, I think […] you would hope that [l’agresseur] pays for his actions,” she said.
“You have a very present deviant behavior”, launched the judge when handing down the sentence. “When you started patting the little girl, that was when it was supposed to ring the bell [pour aller chercher de l’aide]“, she added, still addressing St-François.
In addition to the four years of detention, Jacob St-François will have to provide a DNA sample and will be registered in the register of sex offenders for life.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com