Quebec mayor convicted of sexual assault steps down, 2 years later

Two years after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting one of his employees, the mayor of a coastal Quebec village has stepped down.

Baie-Trinit Mayor Denis Lejeune was convicted of sexual assault in 2015 after cornering an administrative assistant, Caroline Lamarre, in a bathroom and groping her breasts and genitals under her clothing.

• Woman sexually assaulted by small town Quebec mayor says she is moving away

At a council meeting on Tuesday, another elected official read his letter of resignation.

Lejeune was allowed to stay in office because, at the time of his conviction, Quebec's election law only disqualified people from sitting on council if they were sentenced to 30 days or more in jail.

Lejeune was only sentenced to 120 hours of community work, two years probationand ordered to pay $4,000 to victim support services.

In the end, it was Lamarre who left town, telling reporters it was too difficult to live in the small village following the assault, and that her children were being harassed.

She lefther job at the municipality in 2013, two years after the incident.

Resignation came days before he could be kicked from office

Lejeune's resignation came only days before he could be removed from office. A new law passed last year tightened the ethical rules for municipal officials.

Now mayors convicted of any offence in the criminal code can be removed from their duties, but only when legal proceedings are finished.

Lejeune only recently gave up the appeal process.

Baie-Trinitis a tiny village on the north shore about 90 kilometres east of Baie-Comeau, Que.