[Article] Former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players plead guilty to sex assault

[RWJC]

Former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players plead guilty to sex assault

 

Nicolas Daigle and Massimo Siciliano, both 21, were charged in 2021.

 

Two former Quebec junior hockey players pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually assaulting a minor in June 2021 as their team celebrated a championship win.

 

Massimo Siciliano and Nicolas Daigle, both 21, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, while Daigle also pleaded guilty to two charges of filming and exhibiting a video of the act.

 

The pair were members of the Victoriaville Tigres in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at the time of the assault. The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was 17 and an employee at a Quebec City-area hotel where the team was staying during the 2021 playoffs.

 

The assault occurred in the early hours of June 6, 2021, as the team celebrated at the hotel after winning the league championship.

 

According to an agreed statement of facts read by prosecutor Michel Berube, the victim had befriended Daigle while the team was living at the hotel for about a month leading up to their President's Trophy victory on June 5, 2021.

 

She had initially declined an invitation from team members to join their party and from Daigle himself to go up to his room, citing hotel policy. Later in the night, after she had left work, Daigle messaged her again and convinced her to return to the hotel.

 

From the parking lot, the victim messaged Daigle, who said his friend — Siciliano — was in the room with him. She told him several times she would only come up if Daigle was alone.

 

However, when she arrived in the room, Siciliano, whom she did not know, was still there, and the victim said she felt trapped. She was sexually assaulted by the two men for about 40 minutes. During that time, Daigle filmed the woman without her knowledge.

 

Both Daigle and Siciliano acknowledged they were drunk and did not take reasonable measures to obtain the victim's consent. They even had a conversation afterwards noting the victim had not enjoyed herself, the court heard.

 

After the assault, Daigle went downstairs and showed the video of the assault to teammates and a coach in a conference room where the party was still going on. A team employee learned of the video and intervened, making Daigle delete it. The victim only learned of its existence the following day.

 

Outside the courtroom, Berube highlighted the courage and the resilience of the victim, who had to deal with the case and a pending trial for two years.

 

Pair charged in October 2021

 

The pair were charged in October 2021 and their trial was scheduled to begin this week in front of Quebec court Judge Thomas Jacques. Last week, Jacques ruled videos found on the phones of the two men could be admitted as evidence. The contents of those videos remain under a court-ordered publication ban.

 

Berube said the victim was relieved by Wednesday's news, but he noted the guilty pleas came at the last minute.

"By her courage, the complainant can inspire other victims to report," Berube said.

 

The case will return to court on Oct. 20 to set a date for sentencing, and Berube told reporters he will likely seek jail time. Before declaring the pair guilty, Jacques reminded them he would not be bound by a joint sentencing recommendation, should there be one.

 

The pleas come as hockey culture finds itself under the microscope over allegations of sexual assault and hazing.

 

Hockey Canada, the sport's governing body, has been hit with heavy criticism after it became public that the organization settled a lawsuit with a woman alleging she was gang raped by members of the national men's junior team at a gala in London, Ont., in 2018. The allegations have not been proven in court.

 

Meanwhile, Halifax Regional Police continue to investigate a historical sexual assault allegation involving members of Team Canada's contingent at the 2003 World Junior Championship in that city.
 

The Canadian Press · Posted: Oct 11, 2023 11:58 AM PDT | Last Updated: October 11
 

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/former-qmjhl-players-guilty-plea-sexual-assault-1.6992903

[King Heffy]

Give them the max.  I sure as hell hope that coach reported this.

[RWJC]

Seems systemic in junior hockey culture.

 

[Kevin Biestra]

9 minutes ago, RWJC said:

After the assault, Daigle went downstairs and showed the video of the assault to teammates and a coach in a conference room where the party was still going on.

 

[Odd.]

Imagine showing others let alone your coach a video of you raping a girl and thinking they’d be proud. 
 

Give them max and on the sex list for life.

[King Heffy]

18 minutes ago, Odd. said:

Imagine showing others let alone your coach a video of you raping a girl and thinking they’d be proud. 
 

Give them max and on the sex list for life.

In this case, technically forcing someone else to watch child porn.  There's no rehabilitating someone who thinks this is ok.

[Satchmo]

29 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Seems systemic in junior hockey culture.

 

Therein lies the problem.   I agree these two should get all that they deserve but we just keeping pumping out more like them.

[MeanSeanBean]

1 minute ago, Satchmo said:

Therein lies the problem.   I agree these two should get all that they deserve but we just keeping pumping out more like them.

Hockey culture seems more concerned about protecting the feelings of those who didn't want to support pride initiaves than addressing the rapey nature of hockey culture that is far to often on display. 

[King Heffy]

2 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

Therein lies the problem.   I agree these two should get all that they deserve but we just keeping pumping out more like them.

Looking at some of the BS that happens in the NCAA, it's not just limited to hockey.  At the end of the day, the only way to stop it is to throw the book at these guys.  It starts with the coaching staff making it clear there's zero tolerance.

[Satchmo]

4 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Looking at some of the BS that happens in the NCAA, it's not just limited to hockey.  At the end of the day, the only way to stop it is to throw the book at these guys.  It starts with the coaching staff making it clear there's zero tolerance.

I'm with ya.   It's a complex problem.  How are we going to continue to produce the hard driving alpha males we love to watch and cheer for without all these ongoing horrors?

[King Heffy]

9 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

I'm with ya.   It's a complex problem.  How are we going to continue to produce the hard driving alpha males we love to watch and cheer for without all these ongoing horrors?

Step one to me is no more hotels on the road for Juniors.  Set up billets so the players have adult supervision at night.

[Kevin Biestra]

2 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Step one to me is no more hotels on the road for Juniors.  Set up billets so the players have adult supervision at night.

 

[Satchmo]

5 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Step one to me is no more hotels on the road for Juniors.  Set up billets so the players have adult supervision at night.

Well that one sounds like  a bit of a bandaid to me.   The problem would still exist but with a removable cover.

 

I agree with what you said above about coaching.  And it would all have to start early.

[KristoffWixenschon]

1 hour ago, King Heffy said:

In this case, technically forcing someone else to watch child porn.  There's no rehabilitating someone who thinks this is ok.

Rehabilitation is exactly what we should be doing here. These kids need serious therapy and empathy training. Otherwise it's all for nothing and they've learned nothing.

 

I'm worried about what kind of skeletons you have in your closet, always so quick to want to lock people in a cage rather than try to see flawed humans as flawed humans capable of change.

[King Heffy]

1 minute ago, KristoffWixenschon said:

Rehabilitation is exactly what we should be doing here. These kids need serious therapy and empathy training. Otherwise it's all for nothing and they've learned nothing.

 

I'm worried about what kind of skeletons you have in your closet, always so quick to want to lock people in a cage rather than try to see flawed humans as flawed humans capable of change.

I personally had a coworker who was convicted for something rather similar only much worse, I had been drinking with him the night before the crime.  It pains me to this day that I couldn't be of assistance to the investigation due to being intoxicated that night.  His sentence was far too short and luckily he passed away shortly after his release.  There was no doubt in my mind that he would reoffend.

[KristoffWixenschon]

2 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

I personally had a coworker who was convicted for something rather similar only much worse, I had been drinking with him the night before the crime.  It pains me to this day that I couldn't be of assistance to the investigation due to being intoxicated that night.  His sentence was far too short and luckily he passed away shortly after his release.  There was no doubt in my mind that he would reoffend.

He also would have benefited from rehabilitation. He clearly didn't learn anything in prison . Prison doesn't focus on that. There is no mandatory therapy. Sending somebody to jail without mandating therapy does very little to rehabilitate dysfunctional thinking 

[King Heffy]

2 minutes ago, KristoffWixenschon said:

He also would have benefited from rehabilitation. He clearly didn't learn anything in prison . Prison doesn't focus on that. There is no mandatory therapy. Sending somebody to jail without mandating therapy does very little to rehabilitate dysfunctional thinking 

Nothing would have rehabilitated him.  Life in prison should absolutely be on the table for sexual assault offenders and to be honest I'm not going to be changing my mind on this one.

[KristoffWixenschon]

3 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Nothing would have rehabilitated him.  Life in prison should absolutely be on the table for sexual assault offenders and to be honest I'm not going to be changing my mind on this one.

Most people are capable of some level of rehabilitation. True psychopaths are incredibly rare. Most offenders just have poorly formed executive functioning systems due to trauma, age, environment... it's in society's best interest to attempt to teach these people how they impacted their victim. Yes you should punish. But also teach, or else recidivism stays high.

6 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Nothing would have rehabilitated him.  Life in prison should absolutely be on the table for sexual assault offenders and to be honest I'm not going to be changing my mind on this one.

But that's my worry about you. You sound like someone that's never changed their mind on anything. Maybe that's why you don't believe in rehabilitation. There's an ingrained belief that people don't change. 

[RWJC]

53 minutes ago, KristoffWixenschon said:

Most people are capable of some level of rehabilitation. True psychopaths are incredibly rare. Most offenders just have poorly formed executive functioning systems due to trauma, age, environment... it's in society's best interest to attempt to teach these people how they impacted their victim. Yes you should punish. But also teach, or else recidivism stays high.

But that's my worry about you. You sound like someone that's never changed their mind on anything. Maybe that's why you don't believe in rehabilitation. There's an ingrained belief that people don't change. 

 

Best option might just be to increase the penalties by an exponential amount for any sexual assault crime. That way, any sociopath who CHOOSES to engage in it will have fair advanced knowledge of what they are in for should they be caught/convicted. 
 

You can attempt to rehab them after the fact and while incarcerated, but primary reaction should be long term incarceration so that:

 

a) any further ambitions of committing a similar crime are immediately restricted and the public, who please keep in mind is the real victim here - not the perp - is adequately protected. 

 

and b) there is sufficient enough time invested to best be certain the offender has been rehabilitated.

 

Unfortunately the statistics for perps of sexual assault crimes reoffending is quite high and does not suggest everyone is capable of redemption, as you suggested. In response I would suggest you refrain from making blanket statements about the possibilities of rehabilitation and realize it is a case by case basis and certainly not applicable to even “most people.”

 

I would know. I was a victim of it for years as a youth and when the bastard was caught, served, educated and released he recommitted again against others and caused a suicide because of his actions. 

 

The only rehabilitation he deserved was lethal injection. 

Very unfortunately people who make arguments for criminal rehabilitation often truly fail to realize the all consuming consequences and impacts on victims, and instead disregard the inherent measure of that to focus on “humanitarian” ideals. 
 

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by RWJC

[KristoffWixenschon]

10 minutes ago, RWJC said:

 

Best option might just be to increase the penalties by an exponential amount for any sexual assault crime. That way, any sociopath who CHOOSES to engage in it will have fair advanced knowledge of what they are in for should they be caught/convicted. 
 

You can attempt to rehab them after the fact and while incarcerated, but primary reaction should be long term incarceration so that:

 

a) any further ambitions of committing a similar crime are immediately restricted and the public, who please keep in mind is the real victim here - not the perp - is adequately protected. 

 

and b) there is sufficient enough time invested to best be certain the offender has been rehabilitated.

 

Unfortunately the statistics for perps of sexual assault crimes reoffending is quite high and does not suggest everyone is capable of redemption, as you suggested. In response I would suggest you refrain from making blanket statements about the possibilities of rehabilitation and realize it is a case by case basis and certainly not applicable to even “most people.”

 

I would know. I was a victim of it for years as a youth and when the bastard was caught, served, educated and released he recommitted again against others and caused a suicide because of his actions. 

 

The only rehabilitation he deserved was lethal injection. 

Very unfortunately people who make arguments for criminal rehabilitation often truly fail to realize the all consuming consequences and impacts on victims, and instead disregard the inherent measure of that to focus on “humanitarian” ideals. 
 

 

Well I hate to argue with you because it sounds like you've had a personal experience with this subject. I'm really sorry to hear that.   

 

I will say, I don't make a humanitarian argument. I care much more about the rights of the victim and potential victims. Thats why rehabilitation is important, to prevent future reoffending.

 

Reoffending is a big issue, as you say. And thats because we offer no rehabilitation, just punishment. I argue we need both. Punish with term, I agree. But mandate therapy. They shouldn't be eligible for release without it.

 

[RWJC]

9 minutes ago, KristoffWixenschon said:

Well I hate to argue with you because it sounds like you've had a personal experience with this subject. I'm really sorry to hear that.   

 

I will say, I don't make a humanitarian argument. I care much more about the rights of the victim and potential victims. Thats why rehabilitation is important, to prevent future reoffending.

 

Reoffending is a big issue, as you say. And thats because we offer no rehabilitation, just punishment. I argue we need both. Punish with term, I agree. But mandate therapy. They shouldn't be eligible for release without it.

 

I’ll tell you something straight from the horse’s mouth…there is rarely any victim of sexual assault who feels “safe” or healed after the person who committed acts against them is allowed to be “rehabilitated” and set free. Not one person in my circumstance…and that includes 17 victims, varying in ages from 3 to 13 years old, who to this day have had their lives destroyed and will be forever impacted by what happened to them. 

Not every situation is the same as mine, but I’ll tell you straight up…I wish I ended the fucker’s life when I had a chance to. Instead he manipulated his rehab, much like he did his victims, solely so he could get out and violate again.  Sorry to say, not everyone deserves the chances you wish to offer them in your argument, and best you don’t argue with me about mine. I appreciate the empathy behind yours though. Thank you. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by RWJC

[KristoffWixenschon]

1 minute ago, RWJC said:

I’ll tell you something straight from the horse’s mouth…there is rarely any victim of sexual assault who feels “safe” or healed after the person who committed acts against them is allowed to be “rehabilitated” and set free. Not one person in my circumstance…and that includes 17 victims, varying in ages from 3 to 13 years old, who to this day have had their lives destroyed and will be forever impacted by what happened to them. 

Not every situation is the same as mine, but I’ll tell you straight up…I wish I ended the fucker’s life when I had a chance to. Instead he manipulated his rehab, much like he did his victims, solely so he could get out and violate again.  Sorry to say, not everyone deserves the chances you wish to offer them in your argument, and best you don’t argue with me about mine. I appreciate the empathy behind yours though. Thank you. 

 

Yep. I'll also add that I'm not talking about serious, violent, repeat or pedophilic offenders. I don't think that therapies have great effect on those offenders. In some cases, that brain is wired so poorly, there will be no chance of rehabilitation. Fortunately most people do not commit these types of crimes. 

 

I'm talking about the young, drunk, stupid boys who have never been taught empathy or consent. That's a huge population and we need to differentiate between them and the prolific offenders. May those boys be rehabilitated so that their actions can cause them stomach churning shame. 

They aren't the same population.

[Sargon]

1 hour ago, KristoffWixenschon said:

 

Yep. I'll also add that I'm not talking about serious, violent, repeat or pedophilic offenders. I don't think that therapies have great effect on those offenders. In some cases, that brain is wired so poorly, there will be no chance of rehabilitation. Fortunately most people do not commit these types of crimes. 

 

I'm talking about the young, drunk, stupid boys who have never been taught empathy or consent. That's a huge population and we need to differentiate between them and the prolific offenders. May those boys be rehabilitated so that their actions can cause them stomach churning shame. 

They aren't the same population.

A sexual assault is still a sexual assault to a victim despite the perpetrators naivety.lack of a moral compass is a weak argument as the victims will never for the rest of their life be the same no matter how much therapy they get,I personally know this.the sentencing laws for sexual assault are joke in this country,they should reflect the lingering damage done to the victims and their families that have to also carry that burden as well.life sentence for a life sentence,in my opinion they are the same population regardless of varying degrees of intent.anybody who has committed a crime should rehabilitate themselves as only that individual can face the depth of truth that they expose to themselves.obviously.but no one’s personal growth will ever detract from that kind of crime.lt reminds me of a nice person who drinks and drives and ends up killing somebody,they didn’t mean for someone to die and they are really sorry because now they realize the severity of their actions,but to late.somebody is dead and some family now has had the trajectory of their lives changed forever.that driver will never be the same hopefully but not even close to the victims lives.and isn’t it what it’s all about,the victims not the poor perpetrator who used poor judgment?I get what you’re saying and this is only my opinion based on my own personal experience of being a victim and the experience of my own mother being a victim as well.I appreciate the civility of your opinion,cheers 

[Snoop Hogg]

Under most circumstances I am not a proponent of the death penalty, but people who commit such heinous crimes cannot be rehabilitated. I think they should be sentenced to death by a firing squad. 

[KristoffWixenschon]

1 hour ago, Sargon said:

A sexual assault is still a sexual assault to a victim despite the perpetrators naivety.lack of a moral compass is a weak argument as the victims will never for the rest of their life be the same no matter how much therapy they get,I personally know this.the sentencing laws for sexual assault are joke in this country,they should reflect the lingering damage done to the victims and their families that have to also carry that burden as well.life sentence for a life sentence,in my opinion they are the same population regardless of varying degrees of intent.anybody who has committed a crime should rehabilitate themselves as only that individual can face the depth of truth that they expose to themselves.obviously.but no one’s personal growth will ever detract from that kind of crime.lt reminds me of a nice person who drinks and drives and ends up killing somebody,they didn’t mean for someone to die and they are really sorry because now they realize the severity of their actions,but to late.somebody is dead and some family now has had the trajectory of their lives changed forever.that driver will never be the same hopefully but not even close to the victims lives.and isn’t it what it’s all about,the victims not the poor perpetrator who used poor judgment?I get what you’re saying and this is only my opinion based on my own personal experience of being a victim and the experience of my own mother being a victim as well.I appreciate the civility of your opinion,cheers 

Thanks for the reply!

 

I hope I'm able to write clearly enough to convey that I'm not arguing in favour of the "poor perpetrator". In fact, part of the reason I think rehabilitation is important is because a reformed person would be made sick with shame and guilt over their actions. And I like the idea of people feeling sick about the awful things theyve done, rather than defiant, entitled or smug. But also, a reformed person is no longer a danger to society. Should we lock up people who are no longer a danger to society? Interesting question. 

Currently we have a system where a convicted rapist can be on parole in a few short months or years. They receive no counseling, they get locked in a prison with other broken minds and they are not taught how/why to be better humans. They often leave prison without having learned anything and they are possibly more angry. I'm advocating that rehabilitation should be mandatory. It should be the goal. Would we rather release angry, unrehabilitated people when their term is done? I'm not sure that's a controversial idea.

 

But where we might disagree is that intent does matter.

I think it matters because I believe the point of the justice system isn't just to punish, but also to prevent future crime. Punishing feels good and we should punish sometimes. And maybe we disagree on this, but I think we should also try to assess if that person is likely to reoffend. If so, keep them away from the public. If not, maybe there should be a path back to society for them. 

Intent has always mattered, which is why we have varying degrees of crimes that people can be sentenced for. A death due to neglect carries less sentencing than a planned murder. And thats reasonable, if we are considering someone's likelihood to reoffend.

Would I feel that way if it's my daughter who is sexually assaulted by a drunk dipshit teenager? Nope. I'd try to kill him. Even though I know the best case scenario is that he grows enough empathy to think about the harm he has caused, and genuinely feels terrible shame, never puts another woman in that position again... I'd still want to kill him. 

But that's why the law needs to be impartial. We can't be impartial when it's personal to us. 

People can do horrible things. And people can also learn that they've done horrible things and become better. That's important. 

By the way, I'm also very sorry you've had lived experiences that were hurtful to you. I wish that weren't the case. Kudos to you for responding with kindness even when it's something so personal.