Quebec’s head of youth protection resigns after sex scandal at detention facility

Quebec’s national director of youth protection has resigned, days after a media report claimed that educators at a Montreal detention centre for troubled minors had sexual relations with detainees.

Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant confirmed to Radio-Canada today that he’d asked Catherine Lemay to resign and she had done so.

Her departure comes days after La Presse reported that nine female employees at the Cité-des-Prairies rehabilitation centre allegedly had sexual intercourse with at least five minor residents, and that one of the educators had a baby with a detainee.

Both the centre’s management and the police are investigating the allegations of sexual misconduct at the facility, which houses some of the most troubled young people in Quebec’s youth protection network.

“The first thing, Cité-des-Prairies should have never happened. We are three years after the beginning of the mandate of Madame Lemay. Second of all, when it happened, the first thing was to call the authorities, the police authority, to make sure that there’s police, like a real investigation,” said Valérie Assouline, a Montreal family and youth protection lawyer, adding, “and also to advise Monsieur Carmant. Monsieur Carmant cannot learn these information a week after.”

“It shows that the Minister Carmant has no longer confidence in this person to lead the DPG,” said Samuel Dussault, the director of the Regroupement des organismes québécois pour les hommes agressés sexuellement (ROQHAS).

“We are agreeing with this, where we must not limit ourselves to an administrative reaction. That is the case so far. And this situation are serious crimes.” 

The regional health authority for south-central Montreal would not confirm the details in the La Presse report but said last week that two managers at the detention centre were “temporarily removed” because members of their teams are under investigation. An unspecified number of employees who worked for the two managers have been suspended or fired, it added.

“The law is clear about sexual violence. The age of consent is 16. And one of the young reported was 15,” explained Dussault. “When you are in a position of authority from an educator on young under the age of 18, it’s still sexual abuse.”

Carmant told Radio-Canada that he asked Lemay to resign over what he called “differences of opinion” on the direction of the network, adding that he wanted someone more aligned with the culture change needed in the system.

His office said an interim replacement would be named quickly.

The latest scandal comes only weeks after the province placed a local office of the youth protection network under trusteeship following a report alleging that children in the central Quebec and Mauricie regions were being taken away from their parents too quickly.

La Presse reported on an internal document that cited government statistics showing that the area covered by the branch, which includes the cities of Trois-Rivières and Drummondville, puts three times more children up for adoption than more populous parts of the province.

On Monday, opposition parties said Lemay’s resignation didn’t go far enough and pointed the finger at the governing Coalition Avenir Québec for failing to resolve the issues. 

Quebec Liberal youth protection critic Brigitte Garceau said Lemay should resign not only from the youth protection agency but also from her position as an associate deputy minister. She also urged the government to fill the position of commissioner for youth welfare and rights, which has been vacant since it was announced in May.

“There’s a lack of urgency on this file, and I’m asking myself serious questions in terms of whether Mr. Carmant is really the man for the job of making changes, of cleaning up the system, because we seem to be delaying things,” Garceau said Monday in an interview. 

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon noted in a news conference that Carmant has been social services minister since 2018. 

“Ultimately, once you’re in your seventh year of governance, if it hasn’t changed at the level of (youth protection), it’s the responsibility of the government and the minister,” he said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2024.