Abuse
Simard revealed she had been sexually abused by Cloutier since 1980. She sued him and his company Productions Guy Cloutier (PGC), for more than $1.2 million, but settled out of court. Cloutier was convicted of criminal charges in 2004 regarding this assault and that of another unidentified child. He subsequently received a 3.5 year prison term.
Michel Vastel's biography on Simard, Briser le Silence (Break the Silence), was published in 2005 (ISBN 978-2764802434) amid controversy. Vastel blasted Radio-Canada for continuing to work on television programs with Cloutier through his new company, Novem Communications. The book also charged René Simard with mishandling his sister's finances when he was her legal guardian, and with attempting to bribe her to keep details of Cloutier's abuses from the public. René Simard responded to these claims with a news conference denying details of Vastel's account.
Read more about this topic: Nathalie Simard
Famous quotes containing the word abuse:
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