A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenage girl in Atlanta after being arrested while crossing the U.S. border last year.
Lois Eric Bernard Rivard, 24, pleaded guilty Monday to four counts of child sexual abuse and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes. FOX5 Atlanta Reported.
According to the report, Rivard was detained at a U.S. port entering Michigan from Canada in April 2023, one month after disclosing the abuse to her parents.
“We commend and thank the victims for their courage in speaking out about their abusers,” Douglas County District Attorney Dahlia Racine said in a statement. “Too often these cases go unspoken and victims are left to suffer in silence. I thank our law enforcement partners and our team for their efforts in standing up for victims in court.”
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Lois Eric Bernard Rivard pleaded guilty to four counts of child sexual abuse and one count of enticing a child for lewd purposes. (Douglas County Sheriff's Office)
According to reports, the 14-year-old victim told her parents that she met Rivard on social media before he traveled from his home in Canada to meet her in Atlanta in the summer of 2022.
Douglas County District Attorney Dahlia Racine praised the girl for coming forward about the abuse. (Google Maps)
Rivard used his celebrity popularity to gain the girl's trust and then rented an Airbnb property in Douglas County to sexually abuse her, the report said.
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The girl said when she tried to end the relationship with Rivard, he threatened to spread false information about her family and told her he knew her family's addresses and where they worked.
The girl's parents reported the incident to police as soon as they heard about their daughter's abuse. (Douglas County Sheriff's Office)
The girl told her parents in February 2023. They immediately called police for help and April Rivard was taken into custody.
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After his guilty plea on Monday, Rivard was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
