Maximum Sentences Needed

It's been two years plus a week since news broke about Nicolas Daigle and Massimo Siciliano, a couple of former Victoriaville Tigres players, being suspended by the QMJHL after being formally charged with sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident on June 6, 2021 in Lac-Beauport following the Tigres' victory in winning the QMJHL Championship. No one has ever said that the legal system in Canada moves quickly, but we may finally see a verdict in the case against Daigle and Siciliano shortly after the pair decided to plead guilty to sexual assault today in a Quebec City courtroom prior to their trial beginning. Frankly, both men deserve

For those who missed the details, it was alleged that Daigle and Siciliano "sexually assaulted a then-17-year-old female who worked at a hotel where their QMJHL team was staying during the playoffs in June of 2021. Daigle also pleaded guilty to making and distributing a video of the incident." It took the QMJHL until the beginning of October 2021 to suspend the players indefinitely following the outcry from victims' groups.

As the allegations became formal charges, the legal process crept along slowly as both of these men would need to stand before a judge at some point and enter a plea for their trial. I don't know what changed for these two men when it came to owning up to what they did, but their guilty pleas will bring some closure to this incident for this young lady who has had to live with trauma inflicted upon her by these two criminals. Just for the recoed, I will not use the team "men" moving forward when describing Daigle and Siciliano.

"I hope that the courage of the victim in this case, who came forward to police and was brave enough to be willing to go through a trial, will inspire anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault to come forward – no matter how powerful or influential their perpetrator might have been," crown attorney Michel Berube said in an interview with TSN after Wednesday's hearing.

"I also hope that anyone who might be tempted to do something like sexual assault will see this case and have a second thought about the consequences."

Not to kick sand on Michel Berube's statement, but the amount of media coverage this guilty plea has received will mean very few people know about how this trial ended. Hope springs eternal, I suppose, but it seems news outlets in Quebec ran the story along with a few select outlets in southern Ontario. It didn't even make it to other junior hockey markets in the west nor in the Maritimes, so this may remain a Quebec story rather than being a national one.

If there is good news, though, "Berube said he will be recommending prison time for both Daigle and Siciliano" as both criminals face a maximum of ten years each for the crimes to which they pled guilty. Personally, I'd be asking for that maximum sentence to show these two criminals that their standing in the community as hockey players has zero power when it comes to crimes of the nature they committed. Being good people shouldn't be hard.

Police reports state that "the victim was covered in bruises when she attended the police station", and the judge presiding over the case, the Honourable Thomas Jacques, decided that "cell phone videos which were made by the players in the moments following the assault would be admissible". That alone would likely have been enough to find these two criminals guilty, so their guilty pleas may have saved a pile of details about what went on that night in Lac-Beauport from being revealed.

Sentencing will now take place on October 20 for Nicolas Daigle and Massimo Siciliano, and it truly is my hope that they are punished harshly. Crimes of a sexual nature should always, in my view, carry a heavier sentencing simply because of the trauma that victims suffer. If we truly want to make right, there should be some serious suffering felt by the criminals as well. There is simply no place for what they did in society, let alone hockey, and I'm glad they're going to be punished for the crimes they committed back in 2021.

We'll see what the final decision is on that punishment next week.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!