On the afternoon of Oct. 27, 2019, Victoria police Const. Jenny Lequesne carved pumpkins with her two children and had a little nap before her night shift.
Just before she left, she turned around and took a photo of her family. The kids were sitting on the floor, each wrapped around one of her husband’s legs. He was making a comical face as if to say, “Don’t leave me with these creatures,” Lequesne recalled Friday in provincial court, reading aloud her victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing for the man who assaulted her later that night.
“Now I’m always the one staying home,” she said. “I don’t go to work. I don’t like leaving the comfort and safety of home.”
Aaron Chaignon, 24, was convicted of assault causing bodily harm to Lequesne after a trial in August.
Four police witnesses testified they were called to an assisted living facility to do a wellness check on Chaignon, who was shouting in his apartment and threatening to kill police.
The officers decided to apprehend him under the Mental Health Act. They talked to him through the door and when he appeared to calm down, they instructed him to lie on the floor face down. When they opened the door, he was lying on the floor.
Lequesne handcuffed him, resting her knees on his back in the process. Chaignon lay still when he was being handcuffed. However, when Lequesne was about to stand up, Chaignon rolled on his side, pulled his knee toward his chest, and kicked his leg back downward, striking the officer in the face with his foot.
She was severely injured. Lequesne has lost the ability to see things up close, which means she cannot read bedtime stories to her children and is unable to use a computer or drive at night. She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome and major depressive disorder.
“Devastatingly, I lost my policing career,” Lequesne said, wiping away tears.
But with Victoria Police Chief Del Manak and her husband Const. Eric Lequesne sitting in the courtroom, Lequesne said she will not be a victim and she refuses to let her assailant win.
“Mr. Chaignon, we never got an opportunity to officially meet, but let me introduce myself. My name is Jenny and I’m a human being despite once wearing a uniform. I will continue to help and serve my community in a different capacity,” she said.
“And if you ever need help in the future, I guarantee you that the others still doing this job will continue to show up if and every time you need them, because that is who we are and what we do.”
Eric Lesquesne wrote a victim impact statement, telling Chaignon that his “selfish actions have taken a life of joy, excitement, bliss and trust” from a beautiful young mother and wife.
“Since Oct. 27, 2019, my children hug me a little tighter when I go to work. They make sure to tell me they love me and they talk to all my police dogs asking them to keep their dad safe. Your actions shook their trust in this world.”
Crown prosecutor Nick Melling is seeking a jail sentence of 12 to 18 months followed by one year of probation.
Defence lawyer Neil Brooks is seeking a conditional sentence order of 12 to 18 months followed by two years of probation and conditions that require Chaignon to maintain his mental health.
Chaignon’s criminal record is recent, relevant and serious, and an aggravating factor, Melling said.
“They are all either violent or charges or obstruction, resisting or disarming police,” he said.
Chaignon was on probation for a similar offence when he harmed Lequesne, a serious aggravating factor at sentencing. Most aggravating is the effect on Lequesne and her family, Melling said.
In mitigation, Chaignon is young and there is hope for his rehabilitation. He also has the support of his mother and father, Melling said.
Brooks said Chaignon is not a good fit inside jail. Corrections does not have enough resources and programming to deal with the mentally ill. His life now is very reclusive. He spends most of his time indoors, watching TV, playing video games.
A curfew and counselling for anger management should be considered by the court, Brooks said, adding that his client has reduced moral culpability due to mental illness and cognitive impairment.
Judge Karina Sacca will deliver her decision in a few weeks.
ldickson@timescolonist.com
