Quebec Crown appeals after 2nd judge grants discharge to male attacker, citing career impact

The case is the second prominent matter in recent months of a judge granting a conditional discharge after a guilty plea that cites career impacts of a conviction.

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The Quebec director of prosecutions has filed a notice to appeal a decision by another judge in the province to grant a conditional discharge to a man who pleaded guilty to harming a woman, with career impacts of a conviction cited as a factor.

Audrey Roy-Cloutier, spokesperson for the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), confirmed in an email to Global News on Thursday night that a notice of appeal has been submitted.

“The victim was notified by the prosecutor,” Roy-Cloutier said in French.

“In light of the above, the DPCP cannot comment further on this case at this time.”

The case in question involves a Gatineau man, Joshua Schoo, who pleaded guilty on July 6, 2021, to one count each of assault, uttering a threat to cause death or bodily harm, and assault causing bodily harm.

Court documents reviewed by Global News describe Schoo and the female victim as “estranged spouses still living under the same roof with their four children” at the time of assault on March 6, 2021.

Those court documents lay out the sequence of events in the violence, and say that it was the pair’s 13-year-old daughter who called police. When they arrived, Gatineau police heard screaming, found the door to the master bedroom in the house broken down, and found Schoo on top of the woman.