Sexual touching: Luc Wiseman gets two years less a day in prison

Caroline Plante, The Canadian Press

Former TV producer and former president of Avanti Groupe, Luc Wiseman, is sentenced to two years less a day in prison and three years probation for touching a 12-year-old girl.

His name will also appear on the sex offender registry for 20 years.

Luc Wiseman was the president and owner of the Avanti Groupe production house, which notably produced the popular show “Tout le monde en parle” and other hits such as “La Petite vie”.

Arrested in May 2021, in Montreal, the 67-year-old man pleaded guilty on July 28 to a charge of sexually touching a minor, whose identity is protected.

The touching occurred on three occasions, between 2020 and 2021. Wiseman notably caressed and kissed the victim’s breasts, and touched her vagina.

At the time of sentencing on Friday, Judge Pierre Labelle, of the Court of Quebec, spoke directly to the victim: « There is nothing in this decision that can erase what happened », a- he said.

“I can only wish that your suffering could diminish over time, that the people around you bring you all the comfort (…) necessary. I also salute your courage to have denounced these gestures.

He explained that he took into consideration the aggravating and mitigating factors in this case, in order to deliver a fair, proportionate and personalized decision.

He believes that the « remorse » of the accused, who had no criminal record, who admitted his guilt and undertook therapy, is « sincere ». He considers the risk of recurrence to be very low.

But the judge also holds that there was a « gradation » in the gestures, which had serious consequences on the physical and psychological health of the victim, aged 12 at the time of the events.

The judge recalled that any offense of a sexual nature is serious, and that silence and passivity are not forms of consent.

« Committing such acts deeply hurts the integrity of a victim, » said the magistrate.

He therefore accepted the suggestion of the prosecution and the defence, who had jointly proposed a prison sentence of two years less a day, in addition to a probationary period of three years.

On Friday, the parties agreed that Luc Wiseman had already spent the equivalent of 45 days in prison.

He will be forbidden to be near his victim, and to communicate with her, except to send him a letter of apology.

Luc Wiseman will also be banned from being near a daycare or school for a period of five years.