Quebec Court of Appeal overturns sexual assault verdict for Montreal skating coach

Court of Appeal Judge Patrick Healy overturned both charges and the sentence on Friday.

In his judgment, Healy said there were many omissions and contradictions in the complainant’s testimony, which did not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Court documents say the trial took place almost 40 years after the alleged assaults and eight years after the complainant first pressed charges.

The complainant would have undergone therapy that helped him remember the events.

In 2023, Quebec court Judge Josée Bélanger had ruled that the evidence was sufficient to convince her Gauthier was guilty despite the complainant not being able to remember the addresses, locations, dates, frequency and chronology of events.

She chalked up contradictory statements and inconsistencies to the fact that the events had taken place 38 years before the hearing when he was a minor. Bélanger also rejected parts of Gauthier’s testimony, saying he was not credible.

Healy said the fact that Bélanger partially accepted their contradictory accounts “implies that none of these accounts is conclusive and that each raises significant doubts regarding the case as a whole.”

He added that “the conclusion that there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt requires reasons explaining precisely how the evidence was sufficient to support specific findings regarding sexual touching.”

Healy says that while there is evidence to support a finding of guilt, it fails to meet the standard.

Gauthier spent more than three decades training world-class pairs skaters. He was inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame as a coach in 2015, though he was expelled from Skate Canada following his conviction.

Erika Morris, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Quebec Court of Appeal overturns sexual assault verdict for Montreal skating coach

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