Forced labor and sexual violence: sentenced to pay $225,000 to their daughters

Parents who forced their daughters under the age of 10 to work night shifts as well as suffer psychological and sexual abuse have been civilly ordered to pay them $225,000 for this abuse, which lasted for years.

“If the past cannot be erased, the court hopes that this judgment will add to the need for the relief sought [les deux sœurs] and it allows them to continue their journey with confidence,” said Judge David E. Roberge recently, at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.

He was talking about the lawsuit filed by two siblings, now adults, who said they suffered “a form of psychological torture” as children in the 1990s at the hands of their parents. . The identity of the couple’s children is subject to a publication ban, so the parents cannot be named.

Sleep cut off

This is because from the age of about 8, both girls were forced to work for their parents, who subcontracted for the distribution of printed material. According to our information, they delivered catalogs, including that of Sears, as well as newspapers such as The Montreal Journal etc The Press.

They worked nights and weekends, so that when the two girls had to go with them, no one saw them.

“With a cut sleep schedule, [une des filles] explaining that she is tired all the time, suffering from dizziness and runny noses,” the decision reads.

In the summer, this girl could barely drink water so she didn’t have to urinate, and in the winter, she didn’t have proper clothes, even if she had to go outside.

“She does not like to work at night, but she does not like to express her refusal to her father, to whom it is not allowed,” said the judge. Without crying, she wipes her tears and continues.”

Worse at home

But if the situation was difficult during this forced labor, it was not better at home, with the father who regularly threatened or criticized them.

In addition to this there was a situation of sexual violence, with sexual attitudes and behavior from parents in front of their daughters, even inviting one of them to “become a prostitute, if she wants”. The little girl was only 12 years old.

On a camping afternoon, his father had explained to him his mother’s sexual preferences. At other times, he went from hockey to porn on TV, even though his children were present.

“The circumstantial evidence suggests that they were repeatedly exposed to inappropriate sexual comments from the defendants,” the judge concluded, despite the parents’ denial.

A special case

Bearing in mind that this is a “special case” and that “regrettable events can sometimes occur in most families”, the judge nevertheless concluded that violence had been collection so that the children would be justified in following their parents in the civil cases. So the latter were ordered to pay them $225,000. However, the two daughters may have to wait before receiving the amount, because the parents have decided that things will not stop there.

“We respectfully agree with the judge’s decision,” explained the parents’ lawyer, M.^e Guillaume Phaneuf, confirming that his clients would appeal the case.