Montreal man gets 50 months for gang rape
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 | 12:46 PM ET
CBC News
A Montreal man who was the ringleader of an assault on a 14-year-old girl has been sentenced to 50 months in prison.
Andy Virgile, 19, was convicted on several counts of assault committed in the summer of 2005 after he and friends accosted the victim in a Montreal park.
Police said Virgile gave the girl alcohol then lured her to a nearby building, where he and his friends took turns raping her.
Quebec Court Judge Louis Legault said Monday the attack has profoundly affected the girl, who has returned to native Colombia, where her family hopes she can recover from the ordeal.
Virgile smiled throughout his sentencing hearing, prompting the judge to call the reaction "tiresome." Virgile told Legault he thought he was innocent.
Virgile's defence lawyer, Sonia Mastromatteo, later tried to explain her client's behaviour.
"You have a reaction of someone who still feels that he did not receive justice...and he still believes he was innocent," she told CBC News. Virgile said throughout his trial he and his friends had consensual sex with the victim.
Virgile will appeal his sentence, Mastromatteo said.
Share Tools
Latest Montreal News Headlines
- Quebec students ready for tuition hike, says one leader
- The president of Quebec's College Student Federation (FECQ), Leo Bureau-Blouin, tells CBC Radio's The House that students "are ready for a compromise on the amount of a tuition hike," as the Quebec government and the province's student associations prepare to resume talks. more »
- Tornado touchdown confirmed near Montreal
- Trees were uprooted, roofs damaged and windows shattered as severe thunderstorms, and a tornado rattled through southwestern Quebec Friday night. more »
- Champlain Bridge road work blitz this weekend
- Transport Quebec is advising drivers to avoid the Champlain Bridge corridor this weekend as a blitz of major road work closes down some lanes. more »
- IOC's Jacques Rogge encourages Olympic bids for Quebec City, Toronto
- International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge believes there is an opportunity for either Quebec City or Toronto to host a future Olympic Games. more »
- Casserole pan-demonium in Quebec
- Residents take to the streets with pots and pans to protest Bill 78. more »
Top News Headlines
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Bad weather has hampered the recovery team that is attempting to bring down the body of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. more »
- 32 Syrian children die in artillery attack, says UN
- More than 90 people have been killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria, with the head of the UN team in the country confirming at least 32 children and 60 adults were killed the attack. more »
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- The estranged partner of a young mother who was stabbed to death along with her parents at their home in Aylmer, Que., has been charged with first-degree murder Friday. more »
- The risks and responsibilities of taking on Mt. Everest
- The deaths of six climbers last weekend on Mt. Everest, with more summits underway this weekend, fuels the debate about the risks and responsibilities of high altitude climbing. more »
Most Viewed/Commented
- Tornado touchdown confirmed near Montreal
- 32nd night protest in Montreal
- Quebec students challenge Bill 78 in court
- Mysterious photos may shed light on 2004 Quebec homicide
- Quebec faces mounting pressure amid student crisis
- Ottawa man in hospital after lightning strike
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Son testifies on behalf of father accused of killing wife
- Bookies set odds on Quebec student protest
