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Quebec college student accuses MTL provincial legislator of sexual assault

CaptRenault

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There is already a French language thread about the case of a Quebec City college girl (Alice Paquet) who has publicly accused a Montreal-based provincial legislator, Gerry Sklavounos, of sexually assaulting her in 2014.

Based on a revelation by a blogger, P.A. Beaulieu, that the girl in question publicly claimed that she is an "ex-prostitute," the controversy surrounding the case has increased and I think it deserves an English language thread too.

Below is an English language article about the case.

So far the English language press has not reported the blogger's discovery of a document that describes a student organized conference on prostitution and that mentions that Paquet is an ex-prostitute. Whether that fact ultimately matters to the case remains to be seen. Although Paquet eventually filed a complaint with the police (2 years after the incident), Slavounos has not been charged, probably because Paquet stopped cooperating with the police investigation.

The revelation by the blogger comes from this document which describes a March 2016 student conference that mentions Paquet. Here is an English translation of the description of the conference and Paquet:

Following the initiative of one of the members, the Women's Committee coordinated a conference
about prostitution. This took place on March 22 at oxymel and attracted more than 80 people,
all animated by the desire to learn about the experiences of the speaker, Alice Paquet, ex-prostitute
and active member. Several topics were addressed including sexuality, violence and consent.

Woman speaks out about sexual assault allegations against Sklavouno
CTV Montreal
Published Friday, October 21, 2016
A woman from Quebec City was front and centre Friday after the allegations levelled against Gerry Sklavounos.

Alice Paquet claims she was sexually assaulted by the Liberal MNA for Laurier-Dorion.

At a vigil at Laval University this week, Paquet spoke up to say she had been sexually assaulted by an MNA two years ago while she worked at Quebec City restaurant Louis Hebert.
Exhausted, Paquet said she is receiving both support and criticism, but she said she has no regrets about coming forward.
She said she is facing a lot of questions.

“It's more like, ‘Why did she want to go to his room?,’” said Paquet’s friend Maitee Saganash, who stood by Paquet’s side at a news conference Friday.
Paquet alleges two years ago, she met Sklavounos at the restaurant, then went to his room.
She told Radio Canada they kissed, but added, “It's not because we embrace that it should lead to sex."
She also said that while she doesn't remember saying "no," she definitely didn't say "yes."
Paquet said she went to the politician’s room again a few weeks later and said Friday she didn’t feel comfortable to talk about the details at this time.

She reported the incident to police but the investigation has not progressed, apparently because Paquet did not co-operate with the investigation.
Paquet told Radio Canada that police investigators contacted her repeatedly but she did not return their calls, though has now decided to speak with them.

She also said she hopes sharing her story will inspire other women to break their silence.

A matter of consent

The notion of consent can be confusing, said Debbie Trent of the Montreal Sexual Assault Centre.
“Sometimes it’s very confusing. Sometimes there are situations where you feel you said yes, or you feel you said no, or there are situations where you feel that you can’t or you’re afraid, or you’re not able to freely consent,” she said.
Sklavounos was not responding to interviews Friday, and avoided media as they waited outside his office in the Villeray district and his home in Ahuntsic.

The only comment he made was on Thursday evening to the Journal de Montreal, where he said he's “completely innocent” and that he has "never, never sexually assaulted anyone.”
There are no criminal charges against him.

More allegations; opposition wants his resignation

Opposition parties are calling on the now-independent MNA Sklavounos to resign amid more allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

“Sincerely, how can he be present at the national assembly with all the allegations against him,” said Quebec solidaire MNA Francoise David.
The CAQ's critic for the status of women said the Liberals have to answer some questions after reports in Le Devoir that Sklavounos has acted inappropriately with a number of young women who worked at the National Assembly, including employees, pages, and political staffers.

These young women are not named in the articles, but they claim he made suggestive comments, sent text messages and just generally made them feel uncomfortable with his behaviour.
Le Devoir also reported that at some time between 2012 and 2014 when the Liberals were in opposition, the Liberal party whip was informed that Sklavounos allegedly acted inappropriately with a political staffer in Pauline Marois’s government.
Roy is now asking who in the Liberal Party knew about these allegations, and when they knew.

She also wants to know why nobody in the party took action if Sklavounos had this reputation.

"Only on that basis, that discredits the National Assembly, that discredits the work of MNAs. It's a shadow over us and for the population who are looking at us and I think it's going to be impossible for him to work," said Roy.

“This (MNA) right now, he is still at parliament and he still can vote about laws that concerns our security as citizens as women,” said Saganash.

Support for Sklavounos

Montreal city councillor Mary Deros is a long-time friend of Sklavounos and said while she sympathizes with victims of sexual assault, she is having trouble believing Sklavounos could commit such a crime.

“At no time did I ever see any inappropriate action by him,” she said.

Restaurant under criticism

The restaurant where Paquet said she met Sklavounos is coming under fire.

Very popular restaurant with politicians and on the main street Grande Allee, Louis Hebert is within walking distance from the National Assembly.

Also an inn, there are rooms upstairs from the restaurant.

In a Facebook post earlier this week, Paquet claimed there was pressure on female staff at the restaurant to dress a certain way, and give politicians the ‘royal treatment’ because they're important people.
She also wrote that the Sklavounos was an old friend of the restaurant's owner.

The restaurant management issued a statement Friday afternoon saying they are "profoundly shocked" by these allegations and strongly condemn any form of sexual violence against women. They said they would never condone this type of behaviour no matter how important or influential the client may be.

They also said they train their staff to give impeccable and personalized service, but also remind them to keep a healthy distance from clients.
 

CaptRenault

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Despite the fact that Paquet stated during this past weekend that she would not be speaking publicly anymore about her charges against Sklavounos, she wrote a letter defending herself and published Monday in the French language daily Le Devoir.

In the letter she complains about "intrusions into her private life" despite the fact that she is the one who held a press conference demanding that Sklavounos resign.

Paquet has also changed some of the details of her story according to Le Journal de Quebec. At first she said that she got stitches after her first encounter with Sklavounos. On the advice of her attorney, she retracted that detail.

Paquet also denied that she had given permission to her friend Rosalie Genest to act as a kind of press secretary for her. However, the two appeared together last week for an interview with Le Journal de Quebec and Genest gave other interviews on her own.

This story is starting to remind me of the Ghomeshi case. It seems like the man involved may have acted stupidly and inappropriately (by inviting Paquet to his room) but that the woman is a drama queen who is out to get Sklavounos for some reason. Now that Sklavounos has been smeared in the press as a someone who committed a sexual assault, I think she has already accomplished the latter goal. Paquet should quit while she's ahead.
 

CaptRenault

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A (female) columnist for the Journal de Quebec poses some interesting questions about the case (translation by Google tweaked by me for clarity).

Alice: Which version to believe?

journaldequebec.com
Oct. 22, 2016
By Sophie Durocher

I'm putting on my white gloves. I'm walking on eggshells. I moving my fingers seven times over my keyboard.

But I still want to talk about the case of Alice Paquet vs Gerry Sklavounos.

Not to judge. Not to condemn. Not to put on trial.

Rather to understand. And to do what journalists always do: point out contradictions when interviewing someone, whether MP, singer or used car salesman.

So here are my questions to Alice:

Why did you hang up the phone when a police investigator called you but you answered the phone calls from journalists requesting interviews (radio, TV, newspapers)?

Why did you say in three different interviews 1- "I do not know if I said no," 2- "I clearly said no," 3 "If I do not say yes, then it's no."

Why did yous suggest that the police deterred you from reporting the assault and then less than 24 hours later you affirmed that the police had never deterred your complaint and that it was friends and family who deterred you?

Why did you talk about "stitches" that you supposedly received following the alleged assault and then less than 24 hours later, you denied it after a discussion with your attorneys?

Alice Paquet chose to backtrack on some details described during her testimony published in the Journal Friday.

Following a discussion with her lawyers, she now said that she did not get stitches, although she described getting stitches repeatedly during two interviews with The Journal.

"It's me who is backtracking. I take full responsibility. I take it on my shoulders to have backtracked. I assume full responsibility," she confirmed to the Journal in full knowledge of the facts.
(Journal de Montreal)

She admits to having given contradicting versions of the medical care that was required after the attack. She told La Presse that she did not have stitches, and then stated otherwise to the Journal de Montreal, eventually returning to her initial response yesterday. "In terms of stitches, I took back my words, yes. It's my right to deny or confirm (we're talking about my vagina here, hello?). If I no longer want to talk about it, it's my choice. (La Presse)

Why did you say that you went to the second encounter with the legislator in order to confront him and then you said that the second encounter was held because "I'm a bit masochistic."

I want to support the alleged victims of sexual assault. To listen to them to console them, to support them.

But the danger when people immediately say "We believe you" or use the hashtag #weblieveyou, is that you are putting me through the wringer: can we really believe a version of the story if you contradict it the next day ?

If we say to an alleged victim: "We believe you," then what do we do when the person retracts some elements of her testimony?

Do "We believe" Wednesday's version or the version of Thursday? Or that of Friday?

The version told this morning in Gravel or the version told in the evening in Dussault?

The version told to the newspaper La Presse or the one told to Le Journal de Montreal?

The version told to a crowd during a vigil at Laval University or the version told to a group of senior journalists?
 

CaptRenault

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Le Journal de Montreal reports that Paquet met today with police investigators at police headquarters in Quebec City. According to the article, Sklavounos is due to meet soon with the police to give his side of the story. After the police investigation is concluded, the police will make a recommendation to the Crown on whether or not there is enough evidence to charge Sklavounous for sexual assault.

Paquet has publicly stated several times that the police did not and/or would not take her accusation seriously. She has no evidence to support such an assertion. Paquet is just repeating a standard feminist claim that the crime of sexual assault is under-reported. I'm sure that the Quebec police do not appreciate being publicly disparaged like that, so Paquet probably did not enjoy their full sympathy when she talked to them.

In addition to publicly disparaging the Quebec police, Paquet has also hurt her case by her non-stop talking. A criminal defense lawyer said this on a report on TVA Nouvelles:

"I don't understand why she is still talking. We learned last week that she had hired a lawyer Julius Grey. I'm sure he told her to stop talking, because the more she talks, the more material it provides for the defense, if eventually the legislator is charged. She talks and talks and she contradicts herself "explains Jean-Pierre Rancourt.

The veteran criminal defense lawyer finds contradictions in the different versions of the story told by the student. "The biggest contradiction is that she said she went to the hospital the day after the assault and had to get three stitches, because the assault had been so violent. Friday, she contradicts that, saying she did not get stitches. This is extremely important, because it could undermine her credibility, " Rancourt concludes.

I guess Paquet didn't follow the Ghomeshi trial very closely. :rolleyes:

In other news related to this story, the Quebec police arrested two suspects in the case that initially inspired Paquet to go public with her accusation of sexual assault against Sklavounos. English language newspapers reported the story of the arrests but didn't report much about the suspects. The French language press identified the suspects as two men of African origin, at least one of whom is a student at the University of Laval at Quebec.

Two suspects in custody of the police
 

Holdmedown

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Jul 27, 2005
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Well for me it's not that complicated. Why would a women who was sexually assaulted go back to his hotel room a second time?
Would appreciate a females insight into this just simply to understand and not judge.
 

CaptRenault

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A National Post columnist reviews the allegations made by Alice Paquet against Gerry Sklavounos. I'll say it again: I guess Paquet didn't follow the Ghomeshi trial very
closely. :rolleyes:

Barbara Kay: The allegations in Quebec; it’s not about what happened, but what can be proved to have happened
nationalpost.com
Barbara Kay
| October 25, 2016 | Last Updated: Oct 26 3:12 PM ET


Last week, Quebec Liberal MNA Gerry Sklavounos was expelled from caucus when complaints of sexual assaults filed against him in March surfaced in the media. His accuser, Alice Paquet, can be named because she went public with her story on Facebook, at a vigil in support of sexual-assault victims and a Radio-Canada interview.

Paquet met Sklavounos, 41, at the age of 19 when she worked as a hostess at a Quebec City restaurant frequented by politicians. One night they drank together, then proceeded to his room upstairs, where, according to Paquet, non-consensual sex took place. Paquet told the interviewer she was initially amorous, but “a kiss isn’t a contract. It’s not because we embrace that it should lead to sex.” She is certain she did not say “yes,” but cannot recall if she said “no.”

The incident, Paquet said, left her physically and psychologically scarred. But the police investigation that she initiated she also chose to abort, because, she says, people close to her (although supportive) urged her to consider the consequences for Sklavounos: “He has children. He has a wife. He’s an MNA … ” But she has changed her mind: “(Is) his career worth more than what I lived through? That’s the question I asked myself, and … no (is the answer).” Sklavounos claims he is “completely innocent” and that he has “never, never in my life, sexually assaulted anyone.”

At first I felt instinctive sympathy for Paquet. Married politicians who cruise credulous young women are morally repugnant. In addition, that she had a rape kit done speaks to a sense of violation uncontaminated by time or external influences.

Then my sympathy turned into confusion: “Paquet told Radio-Canada she went to see Sklavounos again at his room a few weeks later and alleges she was again sexually assaulted.”
Whaaaat?


Do you remember the Seinfeld episode in 1997 where George is agitated because his girlfriend Marcy always tells the beginning and end of a story but substitutes “yada yada yada” for the middle, as if what happened between Point A and Point C were too trivial to bother detailing? When George finally presses her on one story, though, the unpacked yada yada yada reveals that Marcy is a shoplifter.

There’s nothing funny about sexual assault, of course, but the yada yada yada framework is still interesting here. The term has moved beyond comedy into full cultural meme status. Yada yada yada is now a signifier for linguistic placeholders — Point B — in social narrative. Sometimes the placeholder elides the obvious, the predictable or the trivial. But sometimes it elides crucial information to forming a judgment.

The Sklavounos-Paquet story, a case in point, begins with solid establishing detail: we have Paquet, a young and impressionable woman, perhaps rather dazzled by the older Sklavounos’s public profile, flattered by his attention. He is doubtless a beau parleur (smooth talker). They have a drink. Attraction turns to desire. They go to his room. They smooch. Then, yada yada yada, she’s getting a rape kit done and pondering a criminal charge. There’s continuity of theme between Point A and Point C, the gist of Point B being quite accessible to the imagination (and a plausible enough allegation to warrant investigation).

But the next elision has no continuity of theme whatsoever. Sklavounos allegedly assaults Paquet in his room. A few weeks pass, and then — yada yada yada — Sklavounos allegedly assaults Paquet again in his room, after she voluntarily returns there. Paquet says she has no idea why she went to his room again, except “I was confused.”

We have heard a lot recently about the trauma carried by survivors of sexual assault, and how there’s no right way to process that trauma. Every victim responds differently, including, tragically, ways that can be self-destructive. That’s very true. But courts of law can only deal in evidence, and in cases of sexual assault, the only evidence is often derived from competing testimonies. It’s not about what happened, but what can be proven to have happened. I don’t know what happened in that room, on either occasion, but I (and many others) certainly doubt whether any conviction would be possible in these circumstances.

Yet in an open letter published Monday, Paquet expressed surprise at the public’s demand for clarifying details to round out her version of events — which is what all her hopes for a success at a criminal trial would hinge on.
As we learned through the Jian Ghomeshi trial, witnesses testifying for the Crown saw no inherent contradiction between their allegations of assault against Ghomeshi and their subsequent efforts to keep his affection for them alive. To their chagrin, the judge did not agree. Whether Sklavounos is guilty or not, before taking the judiciary plunge, Alice Paquet may wish to recall that a court of law will have questions that a supportive crowd of well-wishers won’t.
 

gugu

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Feb 11, 2009
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I guess Paquet didn't follow the Ghomeshi trial very
closely. :rolleyes:


The important thing is for the DPCP (Québec's prosecutor) to have done so, and I'm sure they did. Paquet will be the the host of a tv cooking show this week.The show was taped before her public accusations.
 

blkone

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Sep 24, 2009
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No.

Not this shit again.

Rape never happens, right? Come off it, COME. OFF. OF. IT.

Let the evidence be shown and then let us come to a decision.

Forget the News. News is bullshit to sell ads.
 

blkone

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Sep 24, 2009
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"So here are my questions to Alice:"

Yeah... and where are your questions for Sklavounos? Looks like his past is not squeaky clean either. Imagine that.
 

CaptRenault

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I'm not surprised to learn that the Crown will not file charges against Sklavounos. Though he may have exercised bad judgment in getting involved with an unstable young woman (Alice Paquet), he did not commit a crime.

I'm also not surprised by the news that Quebec's two leftist and feminist-inclined parties, the Parti Québécois and Québec Solidaire, still believe Paquet's lies.

As I said back in October:

Despite the fact that Paquet stated during this past weekend that she would not be speaking publicly anymore about her charges against Sklavounos, she wrote a letter defending herself and published Monday in the French language daily Le Devoir.

In the letter she complains about "intrusions into her private life" despite the fact that she is the one who held a press conference demanding that Sklavounos resign.

Paquet has also changed some of the details of her story according to Le Journal de Quebec. At first she said that she got stitches after her first encounter with Sklavounos. On the advice of her attorney, she retracted that detail.

Paquet also denied that she had given permission to her friend Rosalie Genest to act as a kind of press secretary for her. However, the two appeared together last week for an interview with Le Journal de Quebec and Genest gave other interviews on her own.

This story is starting to remind me of the Ghomeshi case. It seems like the man involved may have acted stupidly and inappropriately (by inviting Paquet to his room) but that the woman is a drama queen who is out to get Sklavounos for some reason. Now that Sklavounos has been smeared in the press as a someone who committed a sexual assault, I think she has already accomplished the latter goal. Paquet should quit while she's ahead.


No sexual assault charges to be laid against MNA Sklavounos
Last Updated: February 2, 2017 7:24 PM EST

QUEBEC — Provincial Liberals were treading carefully Thursday following news that Quebec’s Crown prosecutor’s office has decided no charges will be laid against MNA Gerry Sklavounos, who was accused last October of sexual assault.
While some fellow Liberals like Treasury Board President Pierre Moreau were saying “it’s good news for him,” the bigger question of whether Sklavounos should be readmitted to the caucus created a malaise.

Sklavounos was expelled from caucus in October after the allegations came to light. Officially he has been sitting as an independent but he has not been seen in the legislature since the allegation was levelled by a Quebec City woman.
“I understand Gerry Sklavounos is greatly relieved and wants to return to the National Assembly,” a cautious Liberal caucus chairwoman Nicole Ménard told reporters when asked if the party will let Sklavounos back in. “There will be a discussion next week at caucus. There will be a discussion.”

Ménard took no questions but her tone reflects the dilemma the party finds itself in.

Keeping Sklavounos out of caucus would fly in the face of its view a person is innocent until proven guilty and there are no charges pending against Sklavounos, the MNA for the Montreal riding of Laurier-Dorion and former deputy-house leader.
On the other hand, the legislature also has its own independent strict code of ethical conduct for anyone connected to the legislature.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page Thursday, Sklavounos makes it clear he wants to come back, saying he intends to resume his duties in the National Assembly “as quickly as possible.”
The issue exploded last fall when Alice Paquet alleged during a speech she gave at a vigil for sexual assault victims at the Université Laval, that she had been sexually assaulted.
Paquet didn’t identify her alleged assailant at first. The next day, however, she told Radio-Canada that Sklavounos assaulted her sexually in 2014.

But in a statement, Quebec’s Director of Criminal Prosecutions announced that it “concludes that no criminal act had been committed. In consequence, no criminal charge will be laid in this dossier.”
Sklavounos is on a medical leave but within an hour of the decision issued a statement thanking Quebec City police and the prosecutors’ office for their “professional, rigorous and impartial work,” as well as his wife, family and constituents for their support “during this particularly trying time.”

“It is with relief and satisfaction that I and my family received the decision of the (prosecutor’s office) not to lay charges following the allegations made public last October,” he wrote.
“From the first instant I have maintained my innocence and we see today that this decision confirms it.”

But two of the opposition parties, the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire, said they were sticking with Paquet, praising her courage at having come forward in the first place.
“A woman who comes forward to say she was mistreated, regardless of how, who says she was violated, gets my support,” said PQ whip Carole Poirier, noting in her mind this is a zero tolerance issue. “There are so many women who do not speak out that I will show solidarity with those who do.”

“The judicial system, the police system, are not adapted to clearly allow our society to put an end to sexual violence,” added Québec solidaire MNA Manon Massé.

While messages from the Montreal Gazette went unanswered, Paquet did grant an interview to Le Devoir in which she sticks to her version of the facts.

“What I experienced, from A to Z, is true,” Paquet said. “And that’s what is abhorrent, that is what makes me mad.

“To be able to get into court, as the police say, you almost need a camera.”

On the other hand, certain details of Paquet’s allegations were shown to be untrue. She retracted herself after telling the Journal de Montréal that she had needed sutures after the alleged attacks.
Meanwhile, former agriculture minister Pierre Paradis, the MNA for Brome-Missiquoi, who is being investigated by the Sûreté du Québec for alleged inappropriate behaviour with an employee, has been released from a Montreal hospital where he was receiving treatment for a concussion.

A statement issued by his riding office said Paradis will continue his recovery at home. He too was kicked out of caucus pending the results of the investigation.
 
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