Ex-police chief of Mashteuiatsh Innu community charged with sexual assault
Quebec's police watchdog has arrested the former head of public security of Mashteuiatsh, an Indigenous community in Quebec's Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region.
Mathieu Launière was arrested March 25, 2025, following a months-long investigation and faces one count of sexual assault and one count of breaking and entering, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) said in a news release on Thursday.
He appeared in court in Roberval, Que., on Thursday.
According to the BEI, the offence allegedly took place in 2013 in Mashteuiatsh, an Innu community of about 2,100 people in Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation, roughly 300 kilometres north of Quebec City.
Launière was appointed director of public security on April 4, 2022, after serving in the role on an interim basis for two years, and was reportedly suspended from duty last August.
According to a post on the Innu community's Facebook page, he is a member of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation and has more than 13 years of experience in law enforcement, including as a police officer in various First Nations communities.
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