Sylvain Villemaire has been sentenced to 18 years in prison (photo: Facebook)
MONTREAL — A Montreal man convicted of buying an eight-year-old girl in Africa and bringing her back to Canada as a sex slave for three years has just been sentenced to a record 18 years in prison.
Judge Pierre Labelle handed down the sentence to Sylvain Villemaire at the Montreal courthouse Wednesday morning. Villemaire, 60, is a former psychoeducator who specialized in helping at-risk youth.
After purchasing the girl at the age of eight and bringing her to Montreal, he kept her as a sex slave for three years.
Villemaire was sentenced on the following three charges:
- sexual exploitation of a minor (10 years)
- human trafficking (eight years)
- possession and distribution of child pornography (total of approximately three years)
The Crown accepted the judge’s ruling and told the court it intends to file a motion to label Villemaire a dangerous offender.
He will serve the sexual exploitation and human trafficking sentences consecutively and will serve the child porn sentences concurrently for a total of 18 years, minus three years for time already served.
He is expected to be released in about 13.5 years after being credited for time already served in jail.
The judge denied the defence’s request for extra credit for time served due to the conditions in jail during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The judge also barred him from using the internet and social media for 25 years and banned him in perpetuity from public places where children under 16 frequent.
He also is not allowed to make any contact with the victim during his sentence.
There is a publication ban on any information that identifies the victim or any of the witnesses.
Source: CTV News