Former speedskater sentenced to six months for sexually assaulting 18-year-old
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A former Olympic athlete from Poland was sentenced Monday at the Montreal courthouse to a six-month prison term for a sexual assault on an 18-year-old woman.
The sexual assault took place three years ago after the woman celebrated her 18th birthday at a restaurant in Montreal with Maciej Pryczek, now 49, and a woman that both knew.
Pryczek participated in two short-track speedskating events at the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan.
A standard publication ban protects the identity of the victim. For this reason The Gazette will only report that the sexual assault occurred during the spring of 2022.
Alcohol was consumed during the dinner and both the complainant and Pryczek were offered a place to sleep at the other woman's home.
The 18-year-old woman and the other woman each slept on a large L-shaped sofa in the living room, while Pryczek slept on the floor of the same room.
Later that night, the 18-year-old woman awakened as she felt Pryczek's hand groping her crotch. She also noticed the light from a cellphone shining on her crotch.
'The woman pretended to be asleep while moving slightly to escape the accused's touch,' Quebec Court Judge Patricia Compagnone wrote in her decision last year to convict Pryczek in December.
'The accused persisted. He then placed his hand on her breast over her sweater. She moved again in an attempt to dislodge herself from the accused's touch. He touched her again with his hand, which he slipped under her sweater and attempted to slip under her shorts. On three separate occasions, the accused touched her in this manner.
'In the last gesture, the accused approached her face to ask if she is awake. She did not answer him, remaining motionless, hoping that he would not notice that she is indeed awake. The accused got up and resumed lying on the floor.'
The complainant waited until Pryczek fell asleep and went up to the second floor of the residence to hide in a bathroom. After he left, she told the other woman what happened and they went to a police station to file a complaint.
After Pryczek was convicted of sexual assault in December, prosecutor Marissa Maria Kazadellis asked that he be sentenced to a prison term between six and nine months. Defence lawyer Isabelle Larouche, asked for a conditional discharge for her client.
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