Ex-circus clown gets 3 years for sexual abuse
SUE
MONTGOMERY,
The
Gazette
Published: Saturday,
March
25
2006
A
man
who
used
to
perform
as
a
clown
at
the
Shrine
Circus
was
sentenced
yesterday
to
three
years
in
prison
for
sexually
abusing
his
daughter
and
his
sister-in-law. Jacques
Beaule,
62,
sat
in
the
front
row
of
a
Montreal
courtroom
yesterday
until
Quebec
Court
Judge
Michelle
Toupin
announced
the
sentence. Dressed
in
jeans
and
a
denim
shirt,
and
wearing
glasses, the
short,
balding
man
then
picked
up
a
small
black
suitcase
and
walked
to
the
prisoner's
box. Beaule,
who
had
been
free
on
bail
during
his
trial,
showed
no
emotion
as
he
heard
the
verdict. He
was
found
guilty
of
nine
of
the
42
charges
filed
against
him,
including
sexual
assault. His
two
victims
later
said
no
jail
term
could
give
them
back
their
childhoods. "I
told
the
Crown
I
wanted
him
to
have
his
freedom
taken
away
for
at
least
one
night,
so
he
could
feel
what
we
feel,"
said
Allison
Allan,
46,
Beaule's
sister-in-law.
"He's
given
us
life
sentences." Beaule,
who
was
married
to
Allan's
older
sister,
abused
Allan
from
the
time
she
was
about
7
until
age
23. She
and
her
niece
Johanne
Beaule,
42,
say
they
want
to
work
to
change
the
law
so
pedophiles
receive
longer
sentences. "Society
has
to
realize
that
sexual
abuse
isn't
just
sexual
intercourse,"
Allan
said,
noting
Beaule
didn't
get
the
maximum
five-year
sentence
because
there
was
no
penetration. "There's
inappropriate
touching
and
talking
to
children,"
which
are
just
as
damaging,
she
said. smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com©
The
Gazette
(Montreal)
2006
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