Mick Hartley

Anna Slatz at Reduxx:

The father of a transgender athlete has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography. Marc Jacques, the father of Maelle Jacques, cited his son’s transgender identity and his own advocacy for transgender rights in his letter to the court requesting a non-custodial sentence.

What are the chances? – a trans son with a father into child porn.

On his laptop, Jacques was found to have stored 162 files containing child pornography, with an additional 60 files on his iPhone, and 6 files on his desktop computer. In one of the videos described by prosecutors, a female child was seen being orally raped.

Because he has two sons he has full custody of, Jacques was not remanded to custody and was instead released with conditions to self-report back to court for his hearings. On February 26, 2024, Jacques pleaded guilty to knowingly distributing child pornography, and waived his right to have his case heard before a grand jury.

Jacques’ fatherhood and children became a central point during sentencing, and both of his sons penned letters to the court requesting their father receive probation in lieu of a prison sentence.

Maelle Jacques, 16, is a trans-identified boy who has become a controversial athlete at Kearsarge Regional High School for advocating for the elimination of female-only sports. In April, Maelle testified at the New Hampshire state legislature in opposition to a bill seeking to prohibit males from self-identifying into women’s sports.

in his letter to the court, Maelle characterized his father as showing “sheer determination to improve from mistakes he’s made in the past,” and argued that his father should not be sent to prison because it would compromise his own ability to advocate for trans rights.

“The work I have begun to do with the ACLU in regard to my existence as a trans girl in sports is also reliant upon his moral support in my testifying and meeting with Senators,” Maelle wrote. “A prison sentence would also harm me and my brother’s future as we would stop receiving support for college payments without his salary.”

Jacques’ other child, Remi, similarly argued that his father should not be sent to prison, and highlighted his father’s support for LGBTQ issues. He also noted that their biological mother was not supportive of Maelle’s desire to participate in women’s sports, and that his father was a better caregiver as a result.

Another character reference was provided by Dr. Elizabeth Counselman-Carpenter, a professor of social work at Adelphi University, who, like Maelle and Remi, pointed out that Jacques was a “committed member of his community and LGBTQIA+ activist” in her argument against a custodial sentence.

Jacques also wrote a lengthy letter to the court in his own defense, noting the work he had been doing with the ACLU and GLAAD to support Maelle’s fight to be allowed to continue participating in girls’ sport.

Significantly, his letter inadvertantly reveals that he would have been actively attending meetings with politicians and political organizations with his son even after pleading guilty to distributing child pornography.

Well, what's a spot of violent child pornography compared to his fine work advocating for men in women's sport, and being a committed LGBTQIA+ activist?

Jacques went on to suggest that Maelle may commit suicide if he was not allowed to remain free from a custodial sentence arrangement, and notes that Maelle’s mother does not support his son’s gender identity in the same way that he does….

Reduxx located a social media profile belonging to Jacques showing he was an ardent supporter of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, being originally from Quebec, Canada. In 2021, Jacques shared a CBC article on a transgender olympian, captioning it: “Maelle, you can achieve your dreams. I love you.”