“Paul Leroux gets 3 years for residential school abuse” & related article

Paul Leroux, a former dormitory supervisor who has been convicted of sexually abusing boys at a residential school decades ago, has been given a three-year sentence by a judge in Battleford, Sask.

Leroux shook his head as the sentence was handed down on Thursday. Some of his victims who were in court said they were upset with the prison term and that it was not enough considering their years of suffering.

In his remarks on the sentence, the judge said he recognized the victims have suffered and that any sentence he imposed would not relieve that suffering or seem adequate.

The judge said one of the factors he took into consideration was Leroux’s age, 73, and that since his last conviction, in the 1990s, he had been successfully reintroduced into society. The judge noted Leroux is also considered a very low risk to reoffend.

The Crown prosecutor had sought a sentence of 11 years in prison.

‘It doesn’t matter what he gets. The damage is done.’— Residential school victim 

Leroux worked at the Beauval Indian Residential School nearly 50 years ago. Last month, he was found guilty on 10 counts of indecent assault.

Before the sentencing on Thursday, CBC News spoke with one victim, who cannot be named. He said nothing will undo what happened to him and the other victims.

“It doesn’t matter what he gets,” the victim said. “The damage is done. He’s stolen many years from us. Whether he gets two, three, four, 10 years, it doesn’t matter.”

Leroux has been representing himself in court. He maintains he did not commit the crimes and is not apologizing.

1998 conviction

Leroux’s previous convictions stem from his time working at a residential school in Inuvik during the 1970s. He was sentenced to 10 years in 1998 for sexually abusing boys there.

The Beauval school was operated by the Catholic Church under the supervision of the federal government, from 1895 to 1983.

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BATTLEFORD, Sask. – A former supervisor at a Saskatchewan residential school is going to jail after being sentenced on convictions for molesting several students in the 1960s.

Paul Leroux, who worked at the Beauval Indian Residential School, was sentenced to three years after being found guilty on 10 of 17 charges involving boys at the school.

The judge said if the sentences for all his convictions were to be served consecutively, it would add up to 17 years — a crushing sentence for the 73-year-old Leroux.

His victims were angry over the sentence handed down in a Battleford courtroom.

They said Leroux never considered the age of his victims and his age shouldn’t factor into his sentence now.

Prosecutor Mitch Piche (PEE’-shay) says he’ll consider filing an appeal.