On Wednesday August 28, a Vaudreuil-Dorion man received a suspended sentence with two years' probation, after being found guilty of threatening death or causing bodily harm, criminal harassment and breach of conditions against one and the same victim, his former spouse. 

The events with which Claude Bourbonnais was charged occurred on November 24, 2023, when his then-wife had announced the day before that she was leaving him and taking her children with her after 17 years together. It was at this point that he allegedly made threats against her. 

Four months later, in March 2024, the accused allegedly breached his release conditions by visiting the couple's Saint-Zotique home, which was for sale. In addition, between March 7 and 28, 2024, he made several attempts to contact the victim via social networks, e-mail, telephone and text messages to obtain information on various subjects. In addition, he would appear, alone or with his parents, in front of places that were off-limits to him, i.e. the victim's residence and the children's daycare. 

According to Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Pelletier, during this period, Mr. Bourbonnais suffered from psychoses caused by episodes of drug use, which led to his hospitalization. 

Present in the courtroom, the victim gave evidence through her lawyer, via a letter she had written to the attention of the court. In it, she detailed the many impacts of the accused's actions against her.  

In particular, she mentioned having had to take charge of all the household expenses following her separation, which put her under considerable financial stress. She had to manage the sale of the family home alone, as well as repairs to a wall damaged by the accused during the events. 

On top of this, her performance at work has declined due to an inability to concentrate on a task for long. “My employer doesn't recognize me anymore. Before, my work was impeccable; now, I have difficulty performing. I've had to reduce my working hours. I'm afraid when I see a white car that looks like his. I often look out the windows of my home for fear that he might be in front of my house”, she shared with the Tribunal, among other things. 

Two years' probation 

By way of sentence, the two parties involved in the case submitted a joint suggestion to the judge, namely a suspended sentence with two years' probation, accompanied by several conditions. These included keeping the peace, not disturbing the peace, not making contact with the victim (with the exception of the couple's children), not being in the victim's place of work, employment or study, and continuing with the therapy he began following his arrest last March. 

“Among the factors we took into account in imposing the sentence was the fact that Mr. Pelletier undertook his rehabilitation quickly, and that he has not broken any of the conditions imposed since his release from prison last April,” explained Me Pelletier. 

For his part, Me Jacques Vinet emphasized his client's desire to pursue his therapeutic steps and his desire to regularize his rights of access to the couple's children in the coming weeks. 

“I congratulate you on your rehabilitation efforts. I hope you continue on this path and that I never see you in front of me again. The most important thing in this type of case is the well-being of the children. Even if we're a couple one day, we're still parents the next. It's important to remember that during a separation and difficult times,” said Judge St-Arnaud, before endorsing the lawyers‘ joint proposal in Mr. Bourbonnais’ case.