Sculptor Florent Cousineau Sentenced to Prison Again
Florent Cousineau was sentenced to two years less one day in prison after his second trial for a sexual assault committed in the 1980s, a judgment he has appealed and which the Court of Appeal has agreed to hear.
Florent Cousineau Convicted Again at Second Trial
The artist was found guilty a second time of sexually assaulting a young woman in the mid-1980s. The judge imposed a custodial sentence of 24 months minus one day, a term slightly shorter than the 30-month sentence handed down after the first trial. The earlier 30-month verdict had been overturned on appeal, prompting the new trial that again resulted in a guilty finding.
Details of the Incident and the Court’s Assessment
The events in question took place in the spring of 1986, when the complainant — a friend or former girlfriend of the artist’s son, then about 18 or 19 years old — went to the artist’s home to see his son. With the son absent, the accused offered the young woman a massage. When she undressed to receive it, the accused lay on top of her fully naked and sexually assaulted her; the second trial concluded he penetrated her without consent.
The presiding judge described the accused’s version of events as implausible, evolving and contradictory, concluding it was impossible that the accused genuinely believed the complainant had consented because he took no steps to ensure consent and the young woman did not indicate agreement. The judge emphasized the significance of the abuse of trust, noting that the complainant had viewed the artist’s home as a refuge and that the accused was the father of a close friend.
Sentence, Sex-Offender Declaration and Appeal
In addition to the custodial term, the judge ordered that the artist be declared a sex offender for a period of 20 years and imposed a probationary period following release. One account notes a three-year probation term. The court also considered the accused’s loss of status and professional consequences when setting the sentence but concluded that those factors did not justify a non-custodial penalty; the judge rejected a community-based sentence as insufficient for deterrence.
The artist has sought leave to appeal the second conviction, and the Court of Appeal accepted the request to hear his appeal at a later date. Media accounts identify his age differently; one description lists him as 75 years old and another as 76.
The case stands with a confirmed second conviction, a prison sentence just under two years, a long-term sex-offender designation and an outstanding appeal that will be considered by the Court of Appeal.
