SAINT-HYACINTE | A former Ottawa senatorial prospect who used manipulation to mend his relationship with his ex-girlfriend has been found guilty of assault with a weapon and sexual assault.
“You’re my girlfriend, you should sleep with me.” This is exactly the message Gabriel Gagné sent to his partner.
They formed a romantic relationship that quickly became violent. By his own admission, the athlete was not a cloudless person. He also had problems with alcohol.
“He is disrespectful, manipulative and aggressive when we read the text messages,” Judge Marc-André Gautier said at the Saint-Hyacinthe courthouse this morning.
A magistrate then found Gabriel Gagne guilty of armed assault, sexual assault and harassment for crimes he committed during the relationship.
The former Victoriaville Tigers and Shawinigan Cataractes players were drafted in 2015 by the Ottawa Senators. At the time of the events, he was playing in the American Hockey League.
Photo by MARTIN CHEVALIER
His “no” was not heard
A fallen hockey player gave his ex a nightmare. A lot of nagging dictated the tone of the relationship. During an argument, he waved a dumbbell over his partner's head. Another time he threw a watch in her face.
When giving evidence at trial, the applicant described with emotion the acts of violence against her. Gagne, now 28, also used manipulation to have sex with her.
“When she said no, he was pushy, disrespectful, angry and manipulative. His “no” was not heard. She allowed him to do this in order to find peace,” the judge lamented in his verdict.
During the trial, the six-foot-five colossus denied being forced into a relationship, but his explanation “made no sense in the eyes of the court.”
“It is obvious that his behavior pursued a single goal – [la] forced sex, which the Supreme Court calls lack of consent,” Judge Gauthier explained.
Still in court
Gagne has had numerous run-ins with the law. He was found guilty in a Montmagny courthouse this summer of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman in the summer of 2016. He followed her one evening and then forced her to give him a blowjob and rape her.
Then, in the summer of 2023, he was sentenced by the Saint-Jérôme courthouse to six months in prison for stalking and threatening another ex-girlfriend for three years, in particular for using fake social media accounts.
