A Quebec woman has been sitting in a jail in the Bahamas since early January after being accused of having sex with a minor while on vacation.
Karine Gagne, a 23-year-old mother of three from Sainte-Gertrude, located near Drummondville, began a cruise in the Bahamas on New Year’s Day with some co-workers.
Gagne told her mother she met a man in a bar while the ship was docked in Great Stirrup Cay, CTV Montreal reports. Shortly after meeting, the pair had sex in the bathroom of the bar.
The boy’s mother, who was present in the bar and saw her son leave the bathroom with Gagne, then contacted authorities, reports CTV Montreal's Stephane Giroux. Gagne was arrested on Jan. 5. She has been in jail ever since.
Gagne believed the man, who she reportedly described as 6-foot-1 and with a beard, was 18 years old. However, he was only 15 years old. Under Bahamian law, the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 16.
Family and friends in her Quebec community are standing by Gagne, saying she was fooled by the teen, reports Giroux. After learning her daughter was in jail, Gagne’s mother, Chantale Auclair, flew to the Bahamas. However, she was only able to speak with her daughter for about an hour.
“I cried so much, but I told her I didn’t come for nothing, that we weren’t close for nothing,” a tearful Auclair told CTV Montreal in French. “She is more than my daughter, she is my confidante.”
Gagne appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt last week. She returns to court on Feb. 3 to face charges of sexual assault against a minor.
Auclair and the bar in St. Perpetue where Gagne works are now trying to raise money to help her with legal costs.
If convicted, Gagne could face up to seven years in prison.
With files from CTV Montreal
