A Piccadilly man accused of providing liquor to two children and hiding them in a crawl space beneath his house pleaded guilty to several charges in Stephenville Provincial Court on Tuesday.
Brian Morris Benoit, 41, was arrested on Aug. 1 after police received a complaint that he had two girls, ages 12 and 13, illegally in his house.
Police say they saw Mr. Benoit with the girls inside the house through a window. They entered the residence and had to search for the youth, who were found hidden under the floorboards of the living room in a crawl space.
Both girls were removed from the house by police and taken to their parents.
Mr. Benoit was charged as he was not permitted to be in the company of anyone under the age of 16 unless supervised by another adult. He is facing separate sex-related charges and a charge of trafficking in a controlled substance dating from 2010.
In court Tuesday morning, Mr. Benoit pleaded guilty to two counts of providing liquor to a minor and failure to comply with conditions of an undertaking.
He will be back in court on Aug. 19 to be sentenced for the charges stemming from the Aug. 1 incident – and a related charge of resisting arrest will also be addressed. On the same day there will be a bail hearing for the sex-related charges. A preliminary hearing has been set for November regarding the trafficking charge.
