Robert Leblanc is now 65 years old. He doesn’t have an imposing physique, but this man violently murdered a 22-year-old student, Chantal Brochu, in 1992, whom he noticed at the University of Montreal’s Le Clandestin bar.
After following her, he attacked her and dragged her behind Saint-Germain Church in Outremont, where he brutally raped her before killing her and leaving her behind.
Mr Leblanc was arrested two years later while jailed for other crimes of sexual assault. In prison he had confided in a fellow prisoner who warned the authorities.
Assassin and sex offender Robert Leblanc (file photo)
Photo: Radio Canada
Found guilty after a murder trial held in 1996, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, but his predatory profile and extensive history of sex crimes earned the Crown (then represented by Me France Charbonneau, who has since become a judge) that he is becoming a dangerous offender explained.
He then became the second person in Quebec to inherit that label.
Robert Leblanc claims to have changed
The hearing before the PBC was held Monday morning via video conference. Accompanied by his lawyer and his probation officer, Robert Leblanc explained to the two commissioners that he understood that he had been considered a dangerous man but had changed a lot after 29 years in prison.
He repeated several times that it was a thing of the past for him. I’ve changed, I have the right to a second chance like everyone else, he told the commissioners. I know it’s a big responsibility, but if you don’t try, you won’t know.
The Victim, Chantal Brochu (File Photo)
Photo: Radio Canada
The Board noted that while acknowledging his progress, all of the professionals who have evaluated him conclude that the severity of his problems makes it premature to consider daytime parole.
Robert Leblanc said he disagrees with that conclusion because professionals always go back in time.
Gradual approach
The two commissioners pointed out to him that he had spent most of his life in prison and knew very little about life in the community, in a society that had changed a lot in the last 30 years.
The case management team overseeing Robert Leblanc recommends a highly progressive approach, which could begin with the transition to a minimum-security prison.
This approach would allow an assessment to be made of Robert Leblanc’s capacity to act in this context before an accompanied leave is considered.
The inmate admitted that this was a reasonable approach.
Robert Leblanc will appear again before the Parole Board in January 2025.