According Radio-Canada Ici Québecthe judge wrote, on February 19, a letter to the parties involved in which he indicates what he will do is “a preliminary investigation in which we do not decide on the guilt or innocence of the interested party, but rather on the verisimilitude or otherwise of the facts”.
The station indicates that the judge wanted to meet with the complainant, but she refused, a decision that the magistrate has said he will respect, specifying that the investigation will continue.
“I intend to do my job with respect for people while ensuring the confidentiality of any comments they may report to me. That is why I do not wish to make any further public comments,” André Denis wrote in an email to CBC.
Alain Arsenault, a lawyer leading the class action lawsuit filed by more than 140 people against the Archdiocese of Quebec and in which the woman who accuses Cardinal Lacroix participates, points out that he does not give any value to the investigation announced by the Church.