“Shocked”, “surprised” and “upset”, this is how the members of the Alouettes reacted to the arrest of fullback Christophe Normand in connection with charges of luring a teenage girl for sexual purposes.
The 30-year-old man was arrested at his property in Eastman, Estrie, last Thursday. He pleaded not guilty to two charges of luring a person under the age of 18, including one of luring a person under the age of 16 or believed to be under the age of 16 at the time of the offense. The facts of which he is accused occurred on August 9 in the municipality of Bromont.
“I was upset,” replied Danny Maciocia, when asked about his reaction when he heard about it.
The Alouettes’ interim general manager and head coach did not want to comment too much on the matter, but nevertheless indicated that he had discussed the matter with his players.
“This is a conversation that will remain private. We addressed the issue and it was the first thing I wanted to do when I got back from the week off, ”he said Monday, after exercising his family.
The president of the Alouettes, Mario Cecchini, allowed himself to be more voluble.
“It’s a really sad situation. Our thoughts go first to the young girl, this teenager who had a lot of courage to denounce this.
“There is the presumption of innocence and we understand that well,” he said afterwards. But when the police arrive at your home and everything is done within two weeks, it means that the young girl who experienced it had presented important evidence to the police.
On Friday, the “Als” suspended Normand until further notice, after consulting the Canadian Football League (CFL).
In terms of soccer
In addition to having to deal with the human aspects of this sordid affair, the Alouettes must also find solutions on the sporting level.
Normand very rarely touched the ball, but he was an important part of the offense as far as protection was concerned. He was also on special teams.
“We can play with two ball carriers or bring in a bigger receiver, like Régis Cibasu for example. We can also use a sixth offensive lineman. We have to be creative,” expressed Maciocia.
«Il [Normand] was involved in about 10% of our offensive plays,” said running backs coach André Bolduc. We will replace it with elements that we have in place at the moment.”
The one who also wears the assistant head coach hat also said that offensive lineman Pier-Olivier Lestage and wide receiver Tyson Philpot will be among those who will take more responsibility.
Additionally, Maciocia revealed that he has yet to make any moves to land himself a new centre-back and has no plans to do so until Friday night’s clash against the Rouge and Ottawa Black.