DRUG DEATH ACCUSED PLEADS GUILTY

Valleyfield - The 16-year-old Hudson youth charged in the
drug-overdose death of a 13-year-old Rigaud girl has pleaded guilty
to drug trafficking, obstructing justice and violating probation as
well as to two sexual-interference charges.

"He pleaded guilty to everything," said Crown Prosecutor Mylene
Gregoire, who criticized media reports suggesting that sexual-assault
charges had been dropped in exchange for the guilty pleas on the other counts.

"There was no plea bargain," Gregoire explained."He was charged under
sections 151 and 152 of the Criminal Code with sexual interference
and invitation to sexual touching, both specific to victims under 14.
Because of those pleas, there was a stay of proceedings on the sexual
assault charges."

Quebec Court Youth Chamber Judge Linda Despots ordered a
pre-decisional report pending sentencing March 16.

Yesterday, the youth pleaded guilty to three drug trafficking
charges, plus the count of attempting to obstruct justice and two
breaches of conditions, Gregoire added. She confirmed the youth will
remain in detention until he's sentenced.

Whatever the outcome March 16, yesterday's proceedings were a slap to
Dawn Reilly, whose 13-year-old daughter Stevie died at the Montreal
Children's Hospital Feb. 5, the day after a supposed party drug
supplied by the 16-year-old left her in a coma.

Reilly spent Valentine's Day listening as Surete du Quebec Sgt. Eric
Roy relayed details of several nights in January when her 13-year-old
daughter, accompanied by a 14 year-old girlfriend, went to the
16-year-old boy's house where they drank and/or took the party drug
ecstasy and had sex.

After their last party on Feb. 4, Reilly suffered cardiac arrest and
died in hospital the next day without ever having regained
consciousness. Reilly was visibly relieved last Tuesday after the
youth was denied bail. "I'm very happy with the court's decision -
about his being detained and that he will face the consequences of
his actions," Reilly said.

"I didn't feel any remorse for him whatsoever. He showed just the
excitement of wanting to get out of here and lead a new life.
Meanwhile he's ruined mine and my family's."

Relying on the 14-year-old's testimony as well as e-mails that were
sent to another girlfriend, Roy, the principal investigator in the
case, convinced Judge Jean Gravel to deny bail to the youth.

Reilly said she didn't believe him when the youth said he wanted to
start a new life. "I can't believe he can even think like that," she
said."If he walks, it's not right. It's just not right. He has to pay
his dues."

Last week, as court recessed while the judge began his deliberations,
Reilly noted: "[His mother] had no control over him before. She will now?"

The bail hearing heard that the boy's mother was not at home on the
occasions Stevie was there, and that the boy's mother often left him
alone while she took overnight trips to Cornwall.

"These were not the type of things that Stevie did," Reilly said
during a recess in the bail hearing. "She was a good kid. She had
only known this girl a few weeks. These kids were a bad influence on her."

Reilly hopes her daughter's death will send a cautionary message to
parents and teens, "...that there be adult supervision. Which there
wasn't. And talk to your kids a lot more."

At last week's bail hearing, the accused teen's mother told Judge
Gravel she had taken an indefinite leave of absence from her
accounting job and asked him to release her son into her care, where
she said she would keep him next to her 24/7.

She said that friends of the family had offered them a place to stay
in Cambridge, Ontario and that they could make a fresh start there.
She said she would bring her son back for court appearances as
needed. She said she could deposit $4000 as bail for his release.

In answer to defence lawyer Marc Alain's question about what she
would do if her son went missing from her care she replied: "I would
call the police."

She insists her son isn't a bad kid even though what he did hurt a
lot of people. She said that she thought he had learned a big lesson.
"Life is more precious than he thought...This is a life-altering
experience for him," she said. "I'm terrified of what might happen to
him. Every time we leaved the house, I don't know what's going to happen."

She said that she had no idea that her son was using drugs, let alone
selling them.

"It was a total, complete surprise. There was no clue. I never saw
any paraphernalia, he was never in any altered state. I never saw
money lying around or new clothes," she said.

She said that she had met the two girls in her home because they were
friends with her 13-year-old daughter. But once she found out that
they were hanging around the house when she was not there, she told
her son it had to stop.

She said he had a midnight curfew and when he was out, she would call
his friends to see where he was. When she was away, she said she
would always call to check up on him. She said he called her every
time he left the house.

When he took the stand, the 16-year-old said that his mother's plan
to make a fresh start in Ontario was a good one.

"It would help me make a new start. I've never been in detention
before and I don't want to go back. I want to keep away from bad
influences. I'm terrified. I haven't slept since this happened. I've
been crying every night. Every time I close my eyes, I still see her
face. I can't forget what happened," he said in a clear strong voice.

He said he had been trying to get away from bad influences when he
quit Odyssey, an alternative school for troubled kids, last October.
"The people were drug addicts. They smoke pot and took ecstasy before
class, at recess, after class. I didn't want to be around that," he
told the judge.

But his actions didn't match his words. His mother had testified that
he was planning to register at Place Cartier, an adult-education
school to finish his high school core courses this spring. He had
missed the deadline for the winter session. When asked what the teen
was doing to fill his time, she said that he "slept till 3 p.m., ate,
and slept some more."

The teen confirmed the use of his time, adding watching television to
the list. He said that he had stopped looking for a job three months
ago, after he had not heard back from the Subway restaurant near his home.

"I feel that I can stop all the bad stuff I've gotten into here and
start a new life and start over," he said.

Alain argued that the accused had no criminal record, bail money was
here in court, the boy's mother had a plan for him and they had a
place to go, and that there were three responsible people in his life
- - his mother and the couple that was willing to take the family in.
Alain also submitted that the boy's mother would be able to keep her
son under her control. He said that the accused had collaborated with
the investigators, admitted to the sexual assaults and obstruction of
justice charges and had revealed the name of the person who had sold
him the drugs.

The Crown's Gregoire countered by pointing out that the accused had
broken conditions of probation for a previous offence of uttering
death threats. She doubted that the mother would have control over a
200-pound 16-year-old and reminded the court that when the boy had
been left to himself in the past, his lifestyle proved that his
mother had no means of controlling him.

In his ruling, Judge Gravel said that due to the circumstances
surrounding his offences, including sexual assault with a minor under
the age of 14 who lost her life, there was a serious danger to the
community if he were set free. He said that although the mother
seemed to be of good faith, the boy had been on his own since
October. He also said that although she knew that there were two
young girls hanging out around the house, she did not take the
necessary steps to correct the situation. He concluded that the
mother was not controlling his behaviour. Bail was denied.

Last week, Alain pleaded for his client's release, arguing that a
good portion of the proof presented by the defense was not taken into
account by the judge, including the fact that the mother and son had
a good relationship and had a good alternative plan to keep the boy
out of trouble while awaiting trial.

"My client is overwhelmed, " he said. "It's hard for him to live in
the readaptation centre. He can't sleep, and he has nightmares when
he does sleep. He thinks about what happened all the time."

When asked why his client did not seem to show any remorse in court,
Alain said: "I asked him when he came to court to think about what is
happening with his head, not his heart because I need him to work
with me - I need him to explain the situation, the facts. But when
I'm with him in his cell, he's shown remorse and he doesn't feel very
happy about what has happened."

Alain also said he is looking into getting counselling for his
client, a service normally not available at this stage in the
proceedings. But all the good intentions were lost on Brygida Melisa,
Reilly's friend who had sat with her throughout the hearing, offering
comfort and support.

"There's no remorse whatsoever. He's treating it like a vacation -
like he can walk away and start all over again."