A Quebec man convicted of sexual assault who was paroled in part because a judge wanted him to be able to travel for work allegedly continued to grope a woman at a resort in Cuba, Radio-Canada reported. Simon Houle, an engineer from Trois-Rivières, admitted to sexually assaulting a woman in 2019 and, according to the ruling, taking close-up photographs of her while she slept. The public outcry has grown following news that Quebec District Court Judge Matthieu Poliquin granted Houle a conditional discharge last month, in part because of his good behavior. Houle will have no criminal record as long as he complies with a series of conditions for a three-month probationary period. But less than two weeks after receiving that discharge, a woman claims Houle grabbed her back at a resort bar in Cayo Coco, Cuba. Vickie Vachon was staying at the resort with a group of friends when she says she ran into Houle, who was on vacation just days after being discharged. Radio-Canada obtained photographs of Houle confirming his stay at the resort at the time. Vachon said Houle “aggressively” grabbed her buttocks in front of a witness on the evening of July 3. It wasn’t until a few days later, when he returned to Quebec, that he recognized the man in the news. “I want judges to think twice before they let an attacker go free,” Wasson told Radio-Canada. Vachon, the alleged victim, would be Houle’s third. During the court proceedings, Houle admitted to sexually assaulting another woman in 2015 – an admission which the judge described as “disturbing” but “proves [Houle’s] desire for transparency’ and his serious approach to rehabilitation. Radio-Canada reached out to Houle on Friday for comment. He did not respond and his lawyer, Pierre Spain, declined an interview request.
He touched in a “very strong” way
Vachon said she was with friends at the bar when a man, introducing himself as Simon, joined their conversation. He said they enjoyed talking with him. Vachon, Houle and another person then took one of her friends back to their room. It was on their way back to the bar that the touching happened, he said. “As I was walking, Simon grabbed my buttocks in a very, very strong, very aggressive way, a very big fist,” she described. Simon Houle, who pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault and voyeurism, was given a conditional discharge and three months probation after a Quebec court judge ruled a criminal record would have disproportionately affected his engineering career. (Simon Houle/Facebook) Watson said she reacted immediately, getting angry, shouting and kicking him in the shins. “Immediately, I asked him, ‘Can you tell me what I did or what I said that made you believe you had the right to touch me?’ Tell me!” she recounted. “And then he said, ‘Sorry, sorry, it’s my hands. It’s not me, it’s my hands.’ Watson said they talked for another 20 to 30 minutes and she explained to him why the touching was inappropriate. He said he thought he had hit a nerve as his eyes watered, and hoped he wouldn’t do it again. “I said, looking him in the eye, ‘In Quebec do you do this, touch girls’ butts?’ When you walk into a bar, do you allow yourself to touch girls like you just did with me?” After learning that Houle had already pleaded guilty to sexual assault in Quebec, Vachon began to wonder how far the meeting in Cuba might have gone. “What could have happened to me? I’m telling you, he’s a big guy,” Watson said. “Those are the thoughts I’m having right now, realizing that something bad could have happened. Because this guy has no criminal record, why can he travel.” Protesters gathered outside a Montreal courthouse on Sunday to demand the resignation of a Quebec court judge after Houle was granted conditional discharge. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC)
Criminal prosecution
Radio-Canada spoke to the third tourist who witnessed the alleged incident and confirmed Vachon’s account. A second tourist, Josée Binette – traveling with Vachon – also recognized Houle as the man at the bar. She was not there for the incident, but said Watson had told her immediately the next day. After returning to Quebec, Vachon filed a complaint with the Lac des Deux-Montagnes police station, which serves the city of Deux-Montagnes and other suburbs located northwest of Montreal. A police spokesman confirmed the complaint and said an investigator had been assigned to the case. The office of Quebec’s Director of Criminal and Criminal Prosecutions said in a statement that it would not comment on the specific case, but said there are precedents in Canadian law when a restraining order is violated abroad. The Crown previously said it planned to appeal Houle’s sentence, which included a conditional discharge, in the coming weeks. “I think about other victims. How must they feel knowing that this guy can still do almost anything he wants? He can go anywhere, in any country,” Vachon said. “The justice system is letting someone get away with it.” There are resources and support available to anyone who has experienced sexual violence:
