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Accused, 61, and alleged luring victim in Sherbrooke knew each other's age, documents show

Accused, 61, and alleged luring victim in Sherbrooke knew each other's age, documents show

A 61-year-old man from France accused of luring a 15-year-old girl from Sherbrooke, Que., intended to have sexual relations with her, according to search warrant application documents.

Claude-Auguste Piant was arrested earlier this month at the girl's home after her father noticed him on the property.

Piant has since renounced his right to a bail hearing, a preliminary hearing and a trial by jury.

The accused faces a total of 10 charges including child luring, sexual assault and producing and distributing child pornography.

The age of consent in Canada is 16.

In the documents obtained by Radio-Canada, investigators outlined their grounds for searching the Sherbrooke apartment Piant had been renting.

Those grounds were mainly based on details from police interrogations of the accused and meetings with his alleged victim.

The documents indicate the 15-year-old girl told investigators she knew how old Piant was.

A 16 month-long relationship

Investigators say Piant and the 15-year-old girl communicated online from May 2015 until September of this year.

The search warrant application document shows the alleged victim told investigators when questioned on the day of Piant's arrest that she considered the accused "more than just a friend" and alleged the two exchanged hundreds of photos online, including sexually explicit ones.

The documents also indicate the girl had met Piant at the Sherbrooke bus terminal the day before, upon his arrival from France, after which they sat together near a lake where he allegedly touched her under her clothing.

According to the documents, the girl told investigators they returned to his apartment, but they did not have sexual relations because she was not ready.

Ropes and oil seized

After questioning the alleged victim, documents indicate police obtained a warrant to photograph the accused's apartment in order to corroborate her description of the location.

Investigators said they noticed several rubber and nylon ropes, along with massage oil, feathers and knives.

All of the items were seized after the search and seizure warrant was authorized.