Quebec priest sentenced to three years in jail for sex assaults

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 Edmonton Journal

Postmedia News February 10, 2012 9:07 AM

QUEBEC — A Quebec priest who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault involving 13 boys who attended a private Catholic school during the 1970s and ’80s was sentenced Friday to three years in jail.

Raymond-Marie Lavoie was a teacher at Seminaire St-Alphonse, in Ste. Anne de Beaupre, just outside Quebec City, when the assaults took place.

The 71-year-old priest asked his victims for forgiveness and mercy when he pleaded guilty last fall.

Lavoie’s victims were all boarders at the college and were between the ages of 12 and 15 at the time.

At least one of his victims was in court Friday for the sentencing.

Lavoie was a teacher at the seminary and oversaw the dormitory. According to the facts presented in court by the Crown prosecutor, most of the sexual crimes were committed in Lavoie’s room, next to the dormitory, or in the victims’ bed.

Lavoie faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The Crown asked for eight years of imprisonment, while the defence had pleaded for a sentence of less than two years.

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