MONTREAL – The trial of a former Quebec City radio host charged in a teenage prostitution case was disrupted Tuesday when a teen witness tossed a styrofoam cup of water in court and walked out.
Robert Gillet, 58, is charged with obtaining sexual services from two teenage girls and sexually assaulting one of them. His jury trial is taking place in Montreal because of publicity in Quebec City that surrounded the case. The trial was halted for the second time Tuesday when the 16-year-old witness broke down under questioning by defense lawyer Jacques Larochelle.
He was contesting her claims about the exact nature of the scars on her body and their location. The girl threw a cup of water to the floor, stormed into the private hallway used by the judge and jury and slammed the door behind her.
Her screams could be heard through the door.
It was the second time the witness had stormed out.
Before her afternoon outburst, she apologized to the court for walking out in the morning session, saying she was upset, had felt ill at ease and that she thought she was being prejudged.
In December 2002, police busted an alleged teen prostitution ring and charged several well-known people, including Gillet. More than 40 alleged clients and pimps have been arrested in the case.
In the morning session, Larochelle questioned the teen about her testimony that she telephoned Gillet in 2002 and about her claim that Gillet sexually assaulted her.
She said she placed a call to him from a pay phone but Larochelle said there was no record of the call. The teen had already testified her cell phone wasn’t working at the time.
In response to Larochelle’s reference to there being no record of the call, she said rich people get what they want. Larochelle asked if she was implying that Gillet paid the phone company to say there was no record of her call. At that point, she left the witness stand and walked out of the courtroom.
On Monday, the 16-year-old broke down several times as she recounted the November 2002 meeting with Gillet, then one of the leading radio personalities in the provincial capital.
As her father sat in the public gallery, the girl told the court she engaged in vaginal intercourse, anal sex and urination showers.