Pedophile who was at large for months arrested by Sûreté du Québec

Last year, the Parole Board of Canada decided Mario Charette was difficult to control and ordered that he reside at a halfway house.

Author of the article:

Paul Cherry • Montreal Gazette

Published Jun 29, 2023 • 2 minute read

Mario Charette received the long-term offender designation in 2014, when a judge in Rivière-du-Loup sentenced him to a 30-month prison term for accessing child pornography over the course of 18 months. Photos: Montreal police

Mario Charette, a convicted pedophile who was at large for months, was arrested Thursday by the Sûreté du Québec in Mont-Laurier.

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The Montreal police announced the arrest after having requested help from the public earlier this week as they tried to locate the 62-year-old man, who has breached the conditions imposed on him as a long-term offender several times over the past eight years.

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Charette is scheduled to appear at a courthouse in Mont-Laurier on Friday.

Last year, the Parole Board of Canada imposed a condition on Charette that required him to reside at a halfway house until the mandate of his long-term offender status expires in 2024. The strict condition was imposed because the board felt it was the only way to try to control Charette.

Earlier this year, an arrest warrant was issued at the Montreal courthouse alleging Charette went illegally at large on March 10.

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Charette received the long-term offender designation in 2014, when a judge in Rivière-du-Loup sentenced him to a 30-month prison term for accessing child pornography over the course of 18 months. The designation allows the parole board to impose surveillance conditions on Charette for a period of 10 years after his prison term expired.

Besides committing breaches of his conditions, Charette has been convicted of several crimes since he was sentenced for accessing child pornography. Between 2016 and 2021, he served additional sentences for being in possession of property obtained by crime, possession of narcotics, failure to comply with his long-term supervision order, forcible confinement and the theft of a vehicle.

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In 2019, he breached his conditions by talking with a group of teenagers at a campground, a violation of an order that he not be in the presence of minors.

The Crown made the request to have Charette declared a long-term offender based on his very lengthy criminal record, which dates back to 1980 and includes convictions for several sex-related offences, including sexual assault.

“You have used sexual violence as well as fear, domination and gratuitous violence to subjugate and dominate victims. On several occasions you caused serious harm to the victims,” the Parole Board of Canada noted in the decision it made on March 3, 2022 ordering Charette to reside at a halfway house.

pcherry@postmedia.com