Two brothers accused of kidnapping their younger sister and prompting an Amber Alert in 2021 were acquitted at the Montreal courthouse on Monday.
Crown Prosecutor Charles Doucet said he was surprised by the verdict but noted there were a lot of “grey zones” during the trial.
“What we know is that the victim retracted her versions of what she said in court,” Doucet said. “The judge does not accept her version and concluded that he heard many lies.”
The incident at the centre of the court case dates back to July 26, 2021 when police were called to B12 Burger restaurant in Kirkland in Montreal’s West Island, where the sister worked, at around 11:10 p.m.
An Amber Alert went out just after 6:20 a.m. the next day and was lifted less than an hour after when the sister, who was 16 years old at the time, showed up at a local police station.
The teen told police she had been kidnapped by her brothers, then 21 and 22, and Doucet said surveillance video of the incident was presented in court as material proof.
He added, however, that the girl had changed her story to say she had been “consenting.”
In the new version of events, she said she had called her brothers for help after being harassed by a man.
The brothers were acquitted of the charges pertaining to their sister, which included kidnapping, sequestering and assault.
The pair was, however, found guilty of assaulting an employee of the restaurant who had tried to intervene as events unfolded on the night of July 26. Doucet specified that the employee was not the alleged harasser.
Sentencing is expected to take place on Oct. 7.
Because the sister was a minor at the time, a publication ban was ordered to protect her identity.
