Sûreté du Québec spokesperson charged with sexual assault of minor

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Quebec Local News

The offences are alleged to have occurred in the municipality of Cloridorme, in Gaspésie.

La Presse Canadienne

Marie-Ève Martel

Published Jun 26, 2023 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 2 minute read

A Sûreté du Québec vehicle — Photo by Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Press files

A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec in Gaspésie is suspected of having committed acts of a sexual nature on a minor. Sgt. Claude Doiron appeared Monday morning at the Percé courthouse.

According to the indictment, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press, Doiron, 60, is alleged to have “for a sexual purpose touched a part of the body of … a child under the age of 14, between May 1 and Sept. 30, 1988.” The alleged victim was 12 years old at the time. Doiron was 25.

Doiron is accused of inciting the victim to touch him and of sexually assaulting the victim.

The offences are alleged to have occurred in the municipality of Cloridorme, in Gaspésie.

A publication ban was issued by the judge to protect the identity of the victim.

Doiron’s lawyer, Jean-François Boucher, indicated that during his client’s appearance, he did not enter any pleas and that the choice of mode of trial was reserved.

The case will be back in court at the end of September. In the meantime, Boucher said he will study the evidence.

Doiron was not yet employed by the Sûreté du Québec at the time of the alleged acts.

With 20 years of experience as a police officer with the provincial force, Doiron became a Sûreté du Québec spokesperson for the Gaspésie and Bas-St-Laurent regions in 2012. As such, he was regularly called upon to appear in the media at various events.

He was due to retire in the next few days, The Canadian Press confirmed.

His colleague in SQ media relations, Sgt. Ann Mathieu, said: “We are very sensitive to the fact that there is a victim behind these indictments and that we must also take care of them. We will let the legal process take its course.”

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

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