A tale of two cases: guilty and not guilty

MONTREAL — Last week two separate sex offense cases — one involving a cop and the other a teacher — came before the Quebec court in Kuujjuaq, but with very different outcomes.

Charlie Keelan, 24, a policeman with the Kativik Regional Police Force, entered a plea of guilty before Quebec court judge Daniel Bédard.

This charge related to an incident that occurred in Kuujjuaq in Feb. 1999 with a minor under the age of 14.

Judge Bédard, however, requested that Keelan’s case be transferred to another district.

A judge in Quebec may ask for a case’s transfer if it presents any potential conflicts-of-interest, or if there are other reasons for hearing it in another district.

According to Crown prosecutor Monique Perron, cases involving police are always very delicate.

That’s because Quebec cops don’t face an automatic dismissal when they are convicted of criminal offenses. Perron said this law is currently under review and is likely to be amended in the near future, but Keelan could remain with the KRPF and be a witness for the Crown in another case in the same district.

Keelan, who was stationed with the KRPF in Quaqtaq, has been suspended from the police force without pay since Jan. 2000.

On April 12 he will appear again in court in Kahnawake, a Mohawk community near Montreal.

KRPF chief Brian Jones said a decision on Keelan’s fate with the police force would be taken shortly. He said it wasn’t the first time an officer with the KRPF has been suspended or even fired due to criminal proceedings.

Teacher acquitted

Meanwhile, a rookie KSB teacher who faced two counts of sexual interference with two underaged girls will be able to return to work as a teacher, if he chooses.

Judge Bédard acquitted Jean-Sébastien Beauchesne, 24, a former teacher at Tasiujaq’s Ajagudak School, on both charges due to lack of evidence.

Beauchesne had been arrested in early November and charged with touching two students under the age of 14 “for sexual purposes.”

He was suspended without pay from his teaching duties at the KSB until his trial Mar. 30.

Beauchesne’s lawyer, Jean Dury, said the acquittal came as no surprise to his client who had publicly maintained his innocence.

But Dury said that Beauchesne is financially strapped and faces an uncertain future as a teacher as a result of the charges.

Beauchesne will receive his back pay from the KRB, but Dury said his client accumulated many debts related to his legal defense.

He said Beauchesne is hesitant to return to teaching because another allegation of sexual impropriety — even if unfounded — would irreparably damage his client’s reputation.