Former teacher is fourth known person involved with child-porn case to have taken his own life

Four years after police first alleged that hundreds of suspects had bought child pornography from a Toronto firm, fallout from the investigation is still rippling, with the suicide this week of a Quebec man who poisoned himself in a courtroom rather than go behind bars. Journalists at the Quebec City courthouse saw the convicted defendant, Nicolas Boudreau, collapse on Wednesday morning after he pulled a small flask from a pocket and gulped its content right after Quebec Court Justice Christian Boulet sentenced him to six months in jail. The courtroom was evacuated while constables tried to resuscitate the 52-year-old Mr. Boudreau. He died the next day in hospital.

Mr. Boudreau, a former junior-college chemistry teacher and soccer coach, is the fourth person known to have killed himself after being identified in connection with Project Spade. A massive three-year investigation launched in 2010 by Toronto police, Spade targeted Azov Films, a Toronto-based company that sold images of nude Eastern European boys, under the guise of being naturist videos.

source: Article 'Former teacher is fourth known person involved with child-porn case to have taken his own life' by Tu Thanh Ha; beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/man-poisons-himself-after-being-sentenced-in-child-pornography-case/article36374086/; The Globe and Mail; 22 September 2017