“He killed the child I was”: An abuser gets leniency from a judge stuck in his past

An octogenarian from Montreal who is clinging to his past as a child abuser hopes to win leniency from the courts because of his health problems.

• Read more: Sexual Offenses Against a Child: She failed to protect her daughter from her attacker

“He killed the child that I was, and everyone seemed to want to ignore what happened, and I felt broken for decades,” Real Landry victim testified in court from Montreal this Thursday.

With a trembling voice, the woman, whose identity has been protected by the court, testified that her 87-year-old attacker destroyed her in the 1970s, when she was 7 years old.

“I never felt safe again,” she said. Later, other attacks worsened my confusion, my guilt, and my grief.

Her father is against her

Because at the time, Landry was influential in the drag industry. Being close to the victim’s father, he occasionally visited his house where he abused the child. The abuse went on for four years, and the child’s mother caught him red-handed and he left the family.

But that didn’t stop the father from coming to trial, siding with the abuser and basically insisting his daughter was a liar.

“I was so shocked that my own father testified in favor of my attacker,” the victim said. It was then that I knew I had lost my father, his dearest friend.

However, Judge Julie Riendo believed the victim, so Landry was found guilty of indecent assault.

Peaceful rest

He must now serve his sentence, and apparently, he wants to use his health problems to get leniency from the court for his sex crimes.

“I don’t have mobility, it’s severe,” she said, explaining that her accommodation had to be adapted to her physical condition.

Landry, five decades after the abuse, described his quiet daily life as a retirement, a stark contrast to the victim. The octogenarian described going for walks, using the internet to find recipes and how to prepare meals for his partner.

“I try to keep myself busy,” he testified, insisting that he “prepares everything” for his partner, insisting that if he is sent to prison, his partner will find himself without it.

The hearing is scheduled for the rest of the day, during which both the Crown and defense are expected to announce their respective sentences.