On Thursday, Montreal Alouettes’ fullback Christophe Normand was arrested in Eastmont, Quebec. Normand, 30 and in his seventh CFL season (and his fourth with the Alouettes), is facing two charges of child luring for the purpose of sexually exploiting a minor under the age of 16.
On Thursday, the Alouettes announced they were aware of allegations against him, and on Friday, they announced that they were placing him on indefinite suspension:
The Montreal Alouettes have been made aware of the allegations regarding Christophe Normand. The organization is taking this matter seriously and is trying to gather as much information as possible. The Alouettes will make no futher comment at the moment.
— Alouettes de Montréal (@MTLAlouettes) August 26, 2022
The Montreal Alouettes announced Friday that fullback Christophe Normand is suspended until further notice pending accusations of leuring. More info 👉https://t.co/Kes5W7dQ7T
— Alouettes de Montréal (@MTLAlouettes) August 26, 2022
Here’s more from that team statement Friday:
“To respect all parties involved, we will wait for the end of the investigation,” says Mario Cecchini, President of the Montreal Alouettes. “As of now, Christophe is suspended until further notice”.
CBC News has more on the charges against Normand:
Montreal Alouettes player and ex-teacher Christophe Normand has been suspended from play as he faces two charges of child luring for the purpose of sexually exploiting a minor under the age of 16.
The 30-year-old fullback is accused of texting the minor with the intent of making an offence of a sexual nature, according to his charge sheet.
The offences are alleged to have occurred on or around Aug. 9 in Bromont, Que.
Normand was arrested by provincial police at his home in nearby Eastman early Thursday morning. He later appeared in court by video conference from the Waterloo police station. He pleaded not guilty and was released on conditions.
Those conditions include Normand being banned from the presence of minors, unless with another responsible adult. They also have him banned from using the internet and from communicating with the complainant.
The suspension here is certainly notable, and it’s possible that it may lead to Normand’s eventual release. And that could come either from the team or the league. We’ve often seen CFL teams release players for conduct reasons, and the league itself has occasionally stepped in to compel teams to release particular players and then ban those players from the league (as they did with the Alouettes and Johnny Manziel in 2019).
Those bans aren’t always permanent, though; the one on Edmonton Elks’ lineman Jacob Ruby, released and then banned after reportedly misrepresenting his COVID vaccination status, was reversed by the league after a year.
The timing of anything further is a question mark, though. Some CFL players who get into serious legal trouble have wound up quickly released. Some other times, teams have let charges play out for months before releasing the player in question. And some cases have seen teams stick with players as the legal process plays out; however, that’s usually happened in cases around fights and assault charges, not charges of child luring.
This is obviously something the CFL and the Alouettes don’t want to be associated with. So we’ll see what more comes of these charges against Normand, and if there’s any further team or league action on him.
[CBC]
