He was always like, 'I always end up knowing everything'

A landscape painter from Lévis destroyed a young woman by filming her with spy cameras, in her bedroom and in the shower, which he admitted. The prosecution accuses him of having produced child pornography. But the defense denies the victim was still a teenager in the videos.

Misfortune awaited Rose at the bottom of a drawer. Amidst the clutter, two years after being forgotten there, two mysterious remote starters have reappeared.

In other words, two little bombs.

The starters housed spy cameras and many videos showed the girl completely naked.

Mario Beaudoin, painter from Lévis, father of four boys, admitted to having made the videos, but did not plead guilty.

According to his Facebook account, he moved his studio to Gaspésie, in Percé, for the summer.

Rose – a pseudonym, since a court order forbids us to name her – had absolute confidence in him, since he was close to the family.

But for a year or two, testified the young woman, the 58-year-old man took advantage of his visits to hide his spy cameras. Near a jar of seashells, on the edge of the bath, in the closet of his bedroom and on a piece of furniture, near the bed.

Our relationship was very close. If we didn't call each other once a day, we called each other three times. I told him everything, I confided in him.

Pink

The prosecution is convinced that the young woman was under the age of 18 on certain videos and that Mario Beaudoin therefore produced child pornography, in addition to committing the crime of voyeurism.

The defense says otherwise.

Judge Steve Magnan, of the Court of Quebec, will hear their arguments on July 27, before rendering his verdict.

“Something Atrocious”

Rose’s brother (whom we’ll rename Guillaume) first discovered fake remote starters in a coat pocket six or seven years ago. Keen on electronics, he understands that they hide cameras, but does not yet have the wire required to read their memory cards.

His mother calls Mario Beaudoin to tell him about the strange discovery. "He said to me, 'Stop fooling around with it! Give me that in the trash! It is useless, ”she testified in early May.

For about two years, the spy cameras languished in a sideboard drawer, between old keys and a Game Boy.

Guillaume digs them up in May 2017 and goes to the basement, convinced that he will now be able to read them.

Suddenly, the boy is “screaming bloody murder,” his mother testified. “It’s total panic! »

Guillaume was “freaking out”, he confirmed in court.

[In the first video] we see Mario placing something in a corner below the laundry. And there he backs off and my sister gets down and starts changing. I am in shock. I see my sister undressing from top to bottom...

Guillaume, Rose's brother

Alert, Rose joins him and drives him away, to be alone. “She was completely demolished,” he adds.

The mother of the two children was too. "I thought I was going to pass out," she told the judge. […] I collapsed on my couch. »

“The whole gang was crying. I said to myself: “But what did I not see?” We loved him so much. Since when did he do that with us… Why…”

“I called the police. I said, “We want help; we found something atrocious.” »

Mario Beaudoin was arrested almost a year later, in 2018.

"He always said, 'I always end up knowing everything,'" Rose's mother testified.

“Stolen” intimate moments

Investigators, lawyers and the judge had to watch the videos showing Rose in very intimate moments, sometimes in her presence.

It's hard to know that so many people had access to my life as a young girl. I felt like my moments of intimacy were stolen from me.

Rose, during her interrogation

On the court recordings, we hear him courageously suppressing sobs, while the prosecution shows him, for long minutes, photos taken from the videos.

Towards the end, she can no longer answer, her throat completely choked. "It hurt me a lot," she says after a long silence. After that, we have the phobia of being constantly filmed. »

Adolescent or not

At what age would Mario Beaudoin have started filming Rose?

Thanks to certain clues, the young woman is certain that she is still a teenager in half of the videos. The lawyers therefore questioned her at length about her tattoos, which were done in different years. From the decor of his room, which has evolved over time. From her hair color and hairstyle, which have changed a few times. From his iPhone, replaced by a newer model at CEGEP and with a new case.

The first time Rose told the police everything, in May 2017, she was months off about her age, she said, thinking she was 18 in the few videos she had the strength to look.

Three years later, before seeing the investigators again for the trial, she was careful to rummage through her photos to make sure not to "mix everything up" or "say anything nonsense", she said. - she explained to the defense lawyer.

“Looking at my [grade 5] prom pictures, I remembered the exact dates and times. »

The lawyer wanted to know why Rose had not demonstrated the same “concern for accuracy” or the same “rigor” from the start.

“I was so devastated,” replied the young woman. I learned [at the same time] that my grandfather was going to die in the next few days and that [Mario] whom I had loved all my life had betrayed me in an atrocious way. »

Establishing Rose's age is crucial, since the production of child pornography carries a minimum sentence of one year in prison, unlike voyeurism, which is sometimes much more lightly punished*.

Who is Mario Beaudoin?

Mario Beaudoin is known in his community for having chaired regional painting symposiums. He escapes to various villages in North America for several months a year, to paint colorful houses, often camped on the banks of the river or the sea.

On his Facebook account, he posts a video presenting his new workshop in Percé.

Once, Rose adored him, she told the court.

But her trust in men, she said, is now shattered.

Our previous reports on the scourge of voyeurism: