Judge sentences 80-year-old woman to 1 year in prison for sex crimes

Former teacher jailed for sex crimes Colette Casaubon pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her elementary school students.

Montreal — A judge on Monday sentenced an 80-year-old woman to one year in prison for sex crimes against students when she was a teacher in the 1980s.

The woman, Colette Casaubon, was a teacher at Ecole Lajoie in Outremont in 1981. She was experienced and well-liked. One day, she invited sixth-grade male students to touch her chest, to see how it felt after a breast reduction operation. She also organized extra-curricular activities where, in one case, she had full intercourse with one boy.

She didn't contest the charges, pleading guilty in 2019.

The boy, now in his 50s, told the court how the experience negatively affected him during his entire adult life. It confused him throughout his youth, he testified, and eventually led to confusion about his sexuality in adulthood, leading to substance and alcohol abuse. After years of therapy, he was able to connect his problems to the early sexual assault.

The passage of time is never enough to erase the consequences of one's actions, and Casaubon needed to serve time, the judge said. The octogenarian uses a walker and seemed frail. The court constables didn't handcuff her.

She is unlikely to serve her whole sentence, but, for ten years, she will be forbidden from being in the presence of children under age 16. She will be on the sex offender's registry for the rest of her life.