Ex-student who put camera in school bathroom gets community sentence

CBC
·1 min read
Matthias Deschenes was arrested in 2023 after a camera was found in the ceiling of École L'Oiseau-Bleu in Gatineau, Que. On Thursday, the 19-year-old was given an 18-month sentence to be served in the community. (Avanthika Anand/CBC - image credit)
Matthias Deschenes was arrested in 2023 after a camera was found in the ceiling of École L'Oiseau-Bleu in Gatineau, Que. On Thursday, the 19-year-old was given an 18-month sentence to be served in the community. (Avanthika Anand/CBC - image credit)

A Gatineau, Que., man who installed a camera in a girls' bathroom at his former elementary school will serve an 18-month sentence in the community.

Matthias Deschenes, 19, was also given two years' probation Thursday and told to submit a sample of his DNA to the authorities.

Deschenes pleaded guilty in January to breaking and entering and voyeurism, seven months after Gatineau police said a camera had been discovered in the ceiling of a bathroom at École l'Oiseau-Bleu.

At the time of his arrest, police said Deschenes was a former student at the rue Nelligan school. No other cameras were found on the premises, police said.

Under the sentence, Deschenes faces several conditions including a ban on being in parks or other public areas where children under 16 are either present or reasonably likely to be.

He also cannot accept employment or volunteer anywhere that would give him authority over children under 16.