Former Quebec producer Gilbert Rozon, ousted leader of the Just for Laughs group and former juror of the show “France has incredible talent”, was acquitted on Tuesday, December 15 of the charges of rape and indecent assault. Judge Mélanie Hébert ruled that the trial, which opened on October 13 in Montreal, opposed two contradictory versions and did not make it possible to conclude that Mr. Rozon was guilty. “Beyond a reasonable doubt”.
Mr. Rozon, 65, was indicted in December 2018 for acts which allegedly occurred in 1980 and implicating a victim, whose identity had so far not been revealed.
“This Tuesday, December 15 will remain a dark day for all victims of sexual assault in Quebec”, reacted immediately the complainant, Annick Charette, who decided, upon the announcement of the verdict, to break the anonymity she enjoyed. “I think I am another example of the limits of the justice system when it comes to sexual violence”, she added to the media.
Several charges of sexual assault
At the end of the trial, on November 6, the representative of the public prosecutor called for the conviction of the former producer, judging that the version of the facts that he had delivered during the hearings “Defy logic”.
On the contrary, Mr. Rozon’s defense considered that his client should be acquitted for the benefit of the doubt, because of the “Inconsistencies” and ” blackouts “ of the complainant in her account of the events, which occurred forty years ago and when she was only 20 years old.
Mme Charette had claimed that Mr. Rozon had tried to kiss her and take off her underwear while they were alone in a house north of Montreal. She had resisted, he had not insisted and they had each slept in a separate room.
What happened the next morning has been the subject of radically opposed accounts. The complainant said she woke up because the former humor mogul was on top of her, to have sex. Not consenting, she says she finally gave in to “To be able to move on”.
Mr. Rozon, 25 at the time, told him he was awakened because the young woman was ” piggyback “ on him trying “Make love”. He admitted to having been “Consenting” while claiming that the sexual relationship had been forced on him.
The founder of the group Just for Laughs was splashed by several accusations of sexual assault in October 2017, which forced him to leave his position in full movement #metoo. Only the complaint of a woman had finally been accepted by justice.
