Former basketball coach sentenced for sexually assaulting 12-year-old girl

Former Montreal high school basketball coach Robert Luu, 35, was sentenced to nine years in prison for sexual assault with a 12-year-old student.

The third former basketball coach from Montreal’s St-Laurent High School arrested in 2022 for sexual assault has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

Robert Luu, 35, was sentenced Wednesday morning at the Montreal courthouse.

Justice Patricia Compagnone says she accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence after Luu was found guilty of sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching involving a 12-year-old student. The abuse stopped when the young victim turned 15.

Prosecutor Jerome Laflamme said the crime was particularly serious, given the importance of the relationship between a student and a coach.

“We need that relationship to be able to develop. And when people like Mr. Luu abuse that situation, it warrants for heavier sentences,” said Jerome.

The victim, who cannot be identified,  was not in court on Tuesday, but Crown prosecutor Jerome Laflamme read her victim impact statement, which stated she was still going through emotional pain and flashbacks since the abuse.

“These events took place at a crucial moment in my development as a person and as a woman,” the victim wrote. “It left a lasting imprint on my identity and my relationship with others.”

The prosecution said Luu doesn’t show any remorse and continues to claim he’s the victim of a conspiracy.

Both the prosecutor and the defence made a joint submission for a nine-year sentence for the first-time offender.

“The Crown and I pretty much worked together on this to establish what are the aggravating factors, what are the mitigating factors, so that we give an appropriate and fit sentence,” explained Sharon Sandiford, who represented Luu throughout the proceedings.

A second accused, Charles Xavier Boislard, was sentenced to four years behind bars earlier this year.

Laflamme said Boislard and Luu received vastly different sentences because the circumstances weren’t the same.

“Mr. Boilard, for one thing, pled guilty. He pled guilty to the accusations that were pressed against him. Mr. Luu didn’t, and it’s his choice. But we had to hold a trial, and the duration and the frequency of the abuse was different as well, in the case of Mr. Luu, which warranted a heavier sentence,” said Laflamme.

A third coach, Daniel Lacasse, was acquitted after the judge found reasonable doubt that his relationship with a teenage girl began after she turned 18.