MONTREAL — Quebec’s national director of youth protection has resigned, days after a media report alleged teachers at a Montreal detention center for troubled minors had sexual relations with inmates.

Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant confirmed to Radio-Canada today that he had asked Catherine Lemay to resign and that she had done so.

Her resignation comes days after La Presse reported that nine female employees of the Cité-des-Prairies rehabilitation center allegedly had sex with at least five underage residents and that one of the educators had a child with an inmate.

Both the center’s management and police are investigating allegations of sexual abuse at the facility, which houses some of the most troubled youth in Quebec’s youth protection network.

Carmant told Radio-Canada that he asked Lemay to step down because of what he called disagreements about the direction of the network, adding that he wanted someone more attuned to the culture change needed in the system.

Earlier this month, the province placed a local office of the Youth Protection Network under trusteeship following a report that claimed children in the central Quebec and Mauricie regions were being removed from their parents too quickly.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on October 28, 2024.

Canadian Press