Sébastien Poirier posts several photos of his costumes on social networks. A young woman who hugged the Mickey Mouse mascot claims to have been grabbed on the buttock by the character.
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A man who walks around Old Quebec dressed as a mascot to offer “hugs” to passers-by faces a charge of sexual assault.
In the summer of 2021, while dressed as Mickey Mouse, Sébastien Poirier allegedly grabbed the buttocks of an 18-year-old young woman .
The 48-year-old accused denied any inappropriate actions during his trial on Wednesday, at the Quebec courthouse.
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Sébastien Poirier assures that if he touched the buttock of a young woman, it was an accidental gesture.
Originally from Laval, the complainant testified that she had come to spend a weekend as a tourist in Quebec with a friend.
At the end of the evening on August 1, 2021, the two young women were eating on the terrace of the Maison Livernois restaurant. The complainant then saw the famous mouse mascot strolling down Saint-Jean Street.
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Mickey Mouse greeted the passers-by and the young woman got up to greet him in turn and give him a hug.
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The costume worn by Sébastien Poirier at the time of the events.
The mascot then approached the terrace fence. We hug each other, the complainant testified. She put her arms around Mickey's neck, who took her by the waist.
After four or five seconds, according to the complainant, the character did not want to let go. I told him: 'OK, that's enough,' the alleged victim said. She claimed that the mascot then reached down to grab her right buttock.
She tells the story ;#x27;I then pushed him away and then I heard him laugh, said the complainant. According to his testimony, the mascot then continued his way on rue Saint-Jean.
I had tears in my eyes, the young woman recalled. She told judge Sébastien Proulx that she went to the bathroom after the events to pull herself together while she was having a panic attack.
Her friend who accompanied her also testified. The two young women said they wondered whether the incident was serious enough to file a complaint.
They decided to do it as a preventative measure so that other young women or even children would not have to experience the same thing.
Testifying in his defense, Sébastien Poirier recounted how his life changed in the year 2000 after he had been hit by a car on Grande Allée.
He has since lived with various after-effects, including head trauma. And he lost a lot of strength and dexterity.
Having suffered several trials in life, he began about six years ago walking around in costume in Old Quebec, to transform my sadness into happiness, he said.
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Very active on social networks, Sébastien Poirier publishes several photographs of his costumes.
He has seven disguises that& #x27;he took care to list before the judge: “Elmo, Big Bird, Spider-Man, Scooby-Doo…” He didn't have time to name them all, because he was prevented from doing so by his lawyer who wanted to move on to the next question.
One thing is certain, he got rid of Mickey Mouse, whom he associated with the incident that ;#x27;was taken to court, which affected him a lot, he assures.
After taking a break for a few weeks following his arrest, he resumed his round of hugs. However, to avoid any imbroglio, he no longer places his hands around people's waists. I was just staying at shoulder level, he said.
He has no precise memory of the event for which the complainant called the police, recalling that he can give 200 hugs during an outing. If he had ever caught one of the young woman's buttocks, it would have been inadvertent, but really inadvertent, he insisted.
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On social networks, Sébastien Poirier poses in different costumes and offers his services to host activities.
He emphasizes being paralyzed on the left side and having lost the sense of touch on that side of the body. He also explained at length how difficult it is to see while wearing Mickey's head, which has two small holes for eyes, covered with black mesh.
< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">Intern Megan Synnott presented the DPCP evidence under the supervision of prosecutor Louis-Philippe Desjardins. Me Ann-Sophie Gagnon, of the Legal Aid office, represents Sébastien Poirier.
The judge Sébastien Proulx put the case under advisement. He will rule on the guilt or not of the personifier of Mickey Mouse in March.
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116
