On Tuesday, April 2, Yan Lecompte, 48, a well-known Salaberry-de-Valleyfield man in his forties, was formally charged in court with sexual offences. Until a few days ago, Lecompte was a member of the board of directors of Campi-Agile, the region's largest gymnastics club. 

The father of the family is accused of having had an extramarital relationship with a minor for several years. In court, he faces charges of sexual assault, touching, incitement to sexual touching of the victim and her person, sexual exploitation, production and possession of child pornography, transmission of sexually explicit material, luring and exhibitionism. 

Despite the seriousness of the charges, the accused remains free pending further proceedings. He will return to court on June 12. 

According to the evidence presented to the Tribunal, the victim was only 12 years old when the abuse began. Her identity is protected by a publication ban. She would have been under the yoke of the accused for 10 years. The full-scale assaults began in 2015. 

The accused allegedly led her to believe that they were a couple "on the sly". The first contacts between the two, involving incitement to touch and luring on the Internet, are said to have occurred in 2013. 

Late on Wednesday, Campi-Agile issued a statement in response to information published in a national daily newspaper. Here it is:

In connection with the article just published in the Journal de Montréal concerning the accusations currently being made against Yan Lecompte, the club feels it is important to correct the following points:

The article mentions that Mr. Lecompte is a coach at the club. This is false.Yan Lecompte is an athlete and a member of the Board of Directors.

We immediately contacted him to inform him that he would be suspended, at least for the duration of his trial.Instead, he suggested that he submit his resignation.We are currently awaiting his letter.

As for the article, we would like to point out that, unfortunately, we became aware of the interview request in the early evening, just a few minutes before it went on line.

It's not true to say that we didn't want to follow it up - quite the contrary.Ève gave her cell phone number to the journalist.

Our organization is in shock.

The safety of our young people is our priority.