WARNING: Some may find the details in this story disturbing
Former Party Quebecois (PQ) leader Andre Boaskler pleaded guilty Monday to sexually assaulting two young men he met online in isolated incidents.
The 56-year-old appeared in court in Montreal on Monday, avoiding a trial after initially requesting one from a judge after his arrest in 2020.
He pleaded guilty to a third-party charge of sexual assault against a victim of an incident in 2014. He also pleaded guilty to sexual assault in connection with an incident with another man in 2015.
According to a coherent statement of facts, he was 48 at the time of the first incident when he invited a man in his early 20s to his home, whom he met on an online dating app. But when he arrived at Boaskler’s apartment, two other men were already there and the meeting turned into a nightmare, he said.
Boaskler began using drugs that were on display, the court heard, and he became aggressive. He held his victim by the torso and ordered his accomplices to attack the young man, who made it clear that he did not want to have sex.
The young man went to the police and when the media reported an arrest warrant, a second man appeared with a very similar statement about a date that went terribly wrong.
In this case, the 22-year-old met with Boaskler at his home. When he tried to leave, the former politician tried to hold him back to force him.
The identity of the victims is protected by a ban on publication. Both men read statements about the emotional impact on the victim, telling the court that they knew who Boaskler was and trusted him at the time.
One said he was a young, ambitious social activist interested in politics, but that his life had turned upside down since the attack. He left university before sinking into a deep depression and having suicidal thoughts.
The second victim said that at that time he was just beginning to accept his own dating and that the sexual assault traumatized him to the point that it took him years to meet again. To this day, he still lives in shame and cannot trust others.
Crown prosecutor Jerome Laflam praised the applicants for appearing.
“Sexual assault cases are always difficult, but that’s my job. I will have to say that the plaintiffs in this file made my job easier because I was always present and cooperating, “Loughlam said.
The Crown and the defense made a joint application for a sentence of two years minus the day of imprisonment for the crimes. The judge told the court that the verdict would be handed down on July 18th. Until then, Boaskler is under bail.
Boaskler waived his right to a preliminary investigation into both cases last September and chose to go straight to trial by a judge himself before ruling on Monday.
The former party leader was also charged with sexual assault with a weapon in the first case, but the charge was dropped on Monday afternoon.
Boaskler was a provincial cabinet minister and was the leader of the PQ between 2005 and 2007, when the party was in opposition.
He later served as Quebec’s general delegate in New York from 2012 to 2013 and was president of the Quebec Institute for Urban Development from 2016 until his arrest.
With files from The Canadian Press
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