Martin Lapointe, ex-political attaché to Lise Thériault, accused of sexually assaulting minor
A former political attaché to Quebec MNA Lise Thériault has been charged with six counts of sexual exploitation and one count of sexual assault on a minor.
Martin Lapointe, 45, appeared in court on Thursday afternoon in Montreal to face charges involving a single victim.
He was represented by defence lawyer Kevin Morasse.
The allegations date back to between 2005 and 2009, but police said they first learned about the case in January 2017 when they received a complaint.
Lapointe worked at Theriault's riding office in Anjou.
Longtime volunteer
The national commissioner of the Association des scouts du Canada, Sylvain Fredette, confirmed to CBC's French-language service Radio-Canada that Lapointe was active with the movement between 1988 and June 2016. He was the head of fundraising for Metropolitan Montreal's scouts du Canada in 2015 and 2016.
Fredette said before that, he was a troupe leader for many years.
The national commissioner expressed shock at the news of Lapointe's arrest.
"Everyone is surprised," he said. "He was so involved, he gave so much of his time. He always tried to help us."
Fredette said Lapointe had undergone background checks, but there was no file on him and there had never been any complaints about him. He said the Association des scouts du Canada is co-operating with police to try to determine if there may be other victims.
He said for now, his organization has no intention of sending a letter to parents of the scouts.
"Right now, we don't have any indication that the [alleged] victim is a scout," he said. "We don't want to create panic."
Conditional release
Lapointe was released after his court appearance on a promise to return to court on March 31.
He will have to comply with several conditions. He's banned form being in the presence of minors and from making contact with the victim or the victim's family.
Montreal police investigators say they have reason to believe there could be other victims, and they're asking anyone who may be a victim or who may know a victim to call 911 or go to their local police station.
Correction : A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Martin Lapointe was a volunteer with Scouts Canada. He was in fact a volunteer with the Association des scouts du Canada.(Feb 23, 2017 8:59 PM)
