The woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a Liberal MNA says she's now ready to pursue a complaint against him.
Alice Paquet tells Radio-Canada in a TV interview she was sexually assaulted twice by Gerry Sklavounos, the longtime member for Montreal's Laurier-Dorion riding who stepped down from the Liberal caucus on Thursday to sit as an independent.
There have been no criminal charges filed in the case.
Quebec City police confirmed a complaint was filed in March 2016 and Paquet told Radio-Canada she wants authorities to investigate.
Paquet went public with the allegation at a vigil on Wednesday night in support of victims of alleged sex crimes at Universite Laval's student residence.
She spoke at length Thursday about two alleged sexual assaults that took place in 2014 when she was 19 and working as a hostess at the Auberge Louis-Hébert, a hotel and restaurant complex on Quebec City's Grande-Allée, which is said to be frequented by politicians.
She says she met Sklavounos in the spring of 2014. She says he chatted her up over drinks at the restaurant one evening, and then accepted his invitation to continue the conversation upstairs in his hotel room. Ostensibly, they were supposed to talk politics, but at that point, he started kissing her. She made it clear she wanted nothing more.
"A kiss is not a contract. A hug is not a contract," Paquet told the TV interviewer. "Allowing an embrace doesn't lock one into sexual consent."
She says she needed stitches after the assault, which she described as violent — so violent, that when she got home, she wasn't able to sit down. That's when she went to hospital and had a rape kit done.
Two weeks later, Paquet returned to Sklavounous' hotel room — this time, to confront him about the assault. At that point, she says, he assaulted her again — this time, slapping her.
Sklavounos said he is innocent and will fight to protect his reputation, while members of the CAQ and Québec Solidaire are calling on Sklavounos to resign.
-With files from Canadian Press