‘It was torture and humiliation’: Civil suit unmasks convicted predator

In a W5 exclusive, a $2-million civil suit has paved the way to identify a Canadian man convicted for his role in a global network of predators.

Warning: This article contains graphic details

In a W5 exclusive, a convicted Canadian man can now be named for his role in a global network of predators who drug and film the sexual assault of their partners.

One of his victims, who unknowingly lived through years of that abuse, has filed a $2-million civil lawsuit, paving the way to identify the man, whose name has been protected in the criminal justice system by a publication ban.

A process server hand delivered the civil suit to an inmate at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.

His name is Jonathan Luc Beaulieu, a 37-year-old bodybuilder from Moncton, New Brunswick.

A decade of secret abuse

Beaulieu has admitted to horrific crimes against three former partners, women he secretly drugged, sexually assaulted, and videotaped.

A W5 investigation, Sleeping With The Enemy, revealed that those videos were shared within a global online network of men who traded recordings of their own partners being raped.

He’s now serving a 16-year sentence at Dorchester after pleading guilty in 2024.

While the publication ban in his criminal case prevents media from naming him in that context, it does not apply to this civil suit, filed by a woman known publicly as Melanie in the W5 documentary.

Melanie dated Beaulieu when she was a teenager. She had no idea that for three years, he had been secretly drugging and assaulting her.

“It wasn’t just rape,” she told W5. “It was torture and humiliation. There were just so many different things that were used and done.”

A survivor’s fight for accountability

Melanie’s lawyer, Gerald Chipeur, says the case is unlike anything he’s seen in four decades of legal work.

“I have practised law for 40 years,” Chipeur told W5. “I have never seen this kind of horrific assault. Ever.”

Beaulieu could be eligible for release as early as 2029, something Melanie says terrifies her.

“I know he’ll be out in not a very long time,” she said. “And I don’t think someone like that stops. Future people he’ll be in contact with deserve to know that he’s a risk.”

The lawsuit notes that photos and videos of the assaults are still being distributed online. It seeks an injunction requiring porn sites to remove all images and videos associated with the attacks, and to prevent their re-upload.

Chipeur says if porn companies ignore a court order, the consequences could be severe.

“If an individual or corporation flagrantly disregards the order,” he said, “courts have been known to have those individuals arrested.”