Kativik Regional Government manager faces sex charges

(Updated, May 1, 6 a.m.)

A 49-year-old man who works for the Kativik Regional Government in Kuujjuaq as its director of human resources faces four sex-related charges involving two minors, the Sûreté du Québec said April 30.

The man was arrested April 26 in Montreal, Sgt. Ann Mathieu, a spokesperson for the SQ in Quebec City said.

The charges relate to sexual touching, Mathieu said, although she was unable to offer the exact nature of the charges.

The man will appear in court in Quebec City on August 7.

The man “is currently on an administrative leave with pay of undetermined period upon recommendation of our legal counsel,” the KRG said in an April 30 statement.

Sources have told Nunatsiaq News that SQ members boarded an aircraft in Montreal April 26 to arrest the man while the other passengers were asked to remain seated.

They identified the man as Simon Lapointe, who heads the human resources department at the KRG.

The two Criminal Code charges relating to sexual touching include sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.

Sexual interference is a charge against a person who, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years.

Invitation to sexual touching is a charge against a person who, for a sexual purpose, invites, counsels or incites “a person under the age of 16 years to touch, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, the body of any person, including the body of the person who so invites, counsels or incites and the body of the person under the age of 16 years.”

If prosecuted as indictable offences, these charges can result in a prison term between 45 days and ten years. As summary convictions, these charges can result in a sentence of 14 days to 18 months.