"The publications of Mr. Rochefort implied that a targeted group, women, should be controlled, denigrated and mistreated."
Jean-Claude Rochefort, the man who wrote of series of blog posts praising killer Marc Lépine while expressing hatred toward feminists as the 30th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre approached, was sentenced Friday to a 12-month prison term.
Rochefort, 74, was hoping for a suspended sentence to be served in the community. During sentencing arguments, he said that if he went to prison he might lose his apartment in a subsidized housing unit and he’d probably face having to pay double his rent when he gets out.
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Superior Court Justice Pierre Labrie said he could not justify a suspended sentence in Rochefort’s case.
“The court is not convinced that a suspended sentence would not place the public in danger,” the judge said, adding that a suspended sentence would not address the principles of denouncing what Rochefort did and dissuasion called for in Canadian sentencing guidelines.
The judge also said he was convinced a relative could help Rochefort keep his apartment while he is jailed. Rochefort will be eligible for parole in two months, after having served one-sixth of his sentence.
Rochefort appeared to be confused when he was called forward to be taken into custody Friday afternoon. He thought Labrie had sentenced him to a 15-month prison term, a few months longer than what prosecutor Roxane Laporte had asked for.
During the last four months of 2019, Rochefort posted several items on a blog platform for INCELS, or involuntary celibate men, criticizing feminists while praising Lépine, the man who murdered 14 women and wounded 14 other people on Dec. 6, 1989, at École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal. Lépine killed himself and police found a letter inside his jacket stating he intended to kill feminists.
“Mr. Rochefort was glorifying Marc Lépine and presented him as a saint. What’s more, he trivialized the tragedy at École Polytechnique and insulted the 14 victims (who were killed),” Labrie said as he read from his decision.
“The publications of Mr. Rochefort implied that a targeted group, women, should be controlled, denigrated and mistreated.”
The sentence will be followed by three years of probation. During that time, he will not be allowed near the university professors he referred to in his blog posts. He will also be required to keep a 50-metre distance from École Polytechnique de Montréal and Université de Québec à Montréal.
He will also not be allowed to post items on social media about women, feminists, École Polytechnique, Marc Lépine and any other mass killer while on probation.
This article will be updated.
pcherry@postmedia.com
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