Luck Mervil has been sentenced to two years in prison for sexual assault

By: Pierre Saint-Arnaud, The Canadian Press Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Quebec singer Luck Mervil has been sentenced to two years in prison for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman more than 25 years ago. 

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Quebec singer Luck Mervil has been sentenced to two years in prison for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman more than 25 years ago. 

The trial heard that the woman was intoxicated and asleep in a hotel in Rimouski when she was assaulted.

Mervil’s lawyer had asked that her client be allowed to serve his sentence at home, but Quebec Court Judge James Rondeau said that wasn’t appropriate given the seriousness of the crime and the victim’s vulnerability.

Quebec singer Luck Mervil, who plead guilty to sex-related charges involving a minor, arrives at the courthouse for the sentencing arguments Friday, May 18, 2018 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson The Canadian Press
Quebec singer Luck Mervil, who plead guilty to sex-related charges involving a minor, arrives at the courthouse for the sentencing arguments Friday, May 18, 2018 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson The Canadian Press

The Crown had asked for 30 months. 

Mervil’s two-year sentence means he must serve in a federal prison rather than a provincial jail.

He will also be on probation for three years and will appear on the province’s sexual offender registry for 20 years. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2026.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Leif Norman photo From left: Steven Ratzlaff, Tracey Nepinak and Sarah Constible in The Bloody Theatre.

Psychological drama pairs parables to ask big questions

Ben Waldman 5 minute read Preview

Psychological drama pairs parables to ask big questions

Ben Waldman 5 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

The Bloody Theatre is an apt title for playwright Steven Ratzlaff’s latest work, a twisty parable of faith, fortune and consequence that required the crew to familiarize themselves with several tools of torture.

Some of those implements have been Frankensteined together by sound designer and musician Jesse Krause, including a “torture cello,” whose warping wails serve as a sonic stand-in for creaking floorboards, swinging doors and instances of suffering that director Bill Kerr knew would be too visceral to be shown onstage.

The Bloody Theatre isn’t necessarily a Halloween story, but with its blend of religious parable, historical martyrdom and psychological drama, it fits right into spooky season.

Produced by local collective Untimely Theatre, Ratzlaff’s script examines principles of communal responsibility, juxtaposing the present-day journey of an unhoused — by choice — Winnipeg woman named Heidi (Sarah Constible) with a verbatim staging of Martyr’s Mirror of the Defenseless Christians, a 17th-century Dutch text that includes heresy trial transcripts detailing the suppression of Anabaptist beliefs under Lutheran, reform or Catholic majorities in Europe.

Read
2:01 AM CDT
Submitted/Sylvester Olumuyiwa Awojide Faculty and staff of Booth University College and The Salvation Army gather at a Shelter U program at The Salvation Army Center of Hope, Winnipeg.

Who has been invited to the table?

Stephen Borys 6 minute read Preview

Who has been invited to the table?

Stephen Borys 6 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Last Friday, I spoke at Booth University College’s inaugural Honour and Hope Harvest Dinner in support of Shelter U. I had been asked to speak about the power of art in the community, a subject I have spent much of my professional life thinking about — as a museum director, writer and teacher, and now through my consulting work with Civic Muse.

What continues to interest me is not simply what museums, universities and other public institutions do, but whether their work actually matters — whether they make a difference in the lives of the people and communities around them.

Preparing for the evening brought me back to an even more fundamental question: Who has been invited in?

One of my museum mentors used to remind me that institutions often begin the conversation about public engagement too late. Before engagement comes the welcome, and before the welcome comes the invitation. We can create extraordinary buildings, exhibitions and programs and say that everyone is welcome. But unless people believe that these places are also meant for them, many will never cross the threshold.

Read
2:01 AM CDT
Richard Shotwell / Invision Files Lessons in Chemistry star Brie Larson turns 37 today.

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) and important decisions after 9 p.m. The moon is in Gemini.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Your mind is focused, giving you common sense and practical ideas. This is an excellent day to sign up for a course or learn something new. Don’t hesitate to listen to the advice of someone older or more experienced because after all, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
2:01 AM CDT

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Kent Wong Photography Michelle Good’s new novel, Eliza Sunshine, will be released during a lunch party on Saturday.

Winnipeg Book Festival starts a new chapter

Ben Sigurdson 4 minute read Preview

Winnipeg Book Festival starts a new chapter

Ben Sigurdson 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Once known as Thin Air, the 2026 Winnipeg Book Festival marks a new chapter heading into its 29th year celebrating fiction, non-fiction and poetry with a new name, new staff and a shorter, more streamlined fest based at The Forks.

Thursday kicks off with a festival blessing and two events with Indigenous authors. Story Lodge (noon to 2 p.m.) features two videos from the new series by Rosanna Deerchild and Kim Wheeler profiling Indigenous authors working in a range of genres. From 3 to 4 p.m., a quartet of children’s authors will discuss the importance of storytelling and Indigenous languages and culture. The Love Local event on Thursday at 6 p.m., brings together a trio of Winnipeg authors — C.C. Benison, Philipp Schott and Margaret Sweatman — all working in different genres.

On Friday at noon, Niigaan Sinclair, Noé Préfontaine and Anna Dewar will discuss author Elaine Dewar’s posthumously released Oblivious, which explores the dark legacy of Canada’s residential schools and segregated hospitals. That event will be followed at 1:30 p.m. by a panel including Samantha Beiko, Ericka Fiddler and Kirsten Wurmann talking about a forthcoming graphic novel from the Prison Libraries Committee.

Aspiring writers will want to attend the 7x7 event Friday at 3 p.m., featuring seven speakers (including author Zilla Jones, publisher Kyla Neufeld and Chris Hall of McNally Robinson) each offering seven-minute presentations about writing and publishing. Both Saturday and Sunday kick off with river walks with writers at 10 a.m.

Read
2:01 AM CDT
Mike Sudoma/Free Press Singer/Songwriter Sam Singer performs at Sidestage tonight, providing local support for Albertans Starpainter and Carter Felker.

What’s up

5 minute read Preview

What’s up

5 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Connection: Recent Work from Artist Moms 2.0

Community Art Gallery at the Pavilion, Assiniboine Park, 55 Pavilion Cres.

Artist talk Saturday, 2 p.m.

Free

Read
2:01 AM CDT