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| Home / College Guide / Ex-CFL player Jerome Messam sentenced to 18 months suspended sentence in voyeuri |
| Posted on Tuesday, December 06 @ 00:00:05 PST |
Photo: The Canadian Press
CALGARY — A former Calgary Stampeders running back who filmed a sexual encounter with a woman without her permission will not go to jail but will have a criminal record.
Jerome Messam, 37, was given an 18-month suspended sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to voyeurism charges earlier this year.
The court heard that Messam and the woman followed each other on social media while he was a running back for the Canadian Football League team, and in November 2016 they had dinner together and then had consensual sex at his home.
Three months later, Messam sent the woman four 10-second video clips of their sexual encounter on the social media platform Snapchat, which deletes videos after they are played.
The woman filed a formal complaint with police and the CFL in April 2018. Messam had resigned from his contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders after being charged in July 2019.
Court of King’s Bench Judge April Grosse said Messam had not shared the video with anyone or attempted to profit from it, but said it was a serious invasion of privacy.
She said Messam also openly admitted to the court that he felt his actions were disproportionate.
“I find that Mr.
Messam accepts that what he did was wrong, that it caused material damage and that he is sincerely sorry,” Grosse said Monday.
“While he genuinely accepts these things, I find that he has no insight into the full extent of the seriousness of what he has done or the damage he has caused.”
At his sentencing hearing last month, Messam apologized for his behavior but also expressed anger at having lost everything.
“I see that all of this happened at a time when there was so much nuance and all these MeToo (movements) and all the things. They just threw me to the wolves. No fair justice, no due process,” he said on November 10.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done on the football field. It sucks that my career was cut short. I made a bad choice. Do I feel the punishment fits the crime? No. I have within Lost everything in 48 hours.” .”
In a tearful victim statement last month, the woman said she had considered ending her own life, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had moved away from Calgary.
Grosse said Messam has done many good things for his family, friends and community. She also said a criminal record could hurt his chances of continuing to be a role model to children through sports or becoming a college football coach.
“He must take full responsibility for the attitudes, assumptions, beliefs and anything else that may have led him to believe that he could record the intercourse without his partner’s knowledge or consent. This is a serious offense,” she said.
“I am convinced that parole is not appropriate. It would send the wrong message to the public. It would also send the wrong message to Mr Messam, who is still coming to terms with the scale and seriousness of the incident.”
Messam joined the CFL in 2010 and has played for British Columbia, Edmonton, Montreal, Calgary and Saskatchewan.
He became the seventh Canadian to run back since 1955 and the first since 2000 to rush for more than 1,000 yards while also winning the CFL award for Most Outstanding Canadian.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on December 5, 2022.
Source: www.castanet.net
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