Police in the Dominican Republic say a Canadian man has been barred from leaving the country after attempting to have sex with a seven-year-old girl -- with the consent of her father, who is also detained.

Montreal media reports say Yvon Joseph Ghislain Gaudet, 69, is from Quebec.

Police in Sosúa said the man was arrested in a hotel on New Year’s Eve. The girl’s father was arrested in another hotel nearby. Police say the father, whose identity will remain anonymous to protect the child, had taken the girl to Gaudet’s hotel room.

Police said they arrested Gaudet at a hotel in Sosúa and the father at a different hotel nearby.

Dominican and Montreal reports both say Gaudet has been released from custody and is no longer under arrest, but he is not allowed to leave the country as the investigation in ongoing.



The man is a former journalist for Radio-Canada.

In a statement Global Affairs Canada said they are "aware of a Canadian citizen under investigation in the Dominican Republic. Due to the provisions of the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed."



The Dominican Republic has faced international scrutiny in the past for a child sex trafficking problem.



In 2017, a United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children urged the Dominican government put child protection at the core of its tourism strategy to “send a strong signal” that its tourism targets should not be reached at the “expense of exposing further children to the scourge of sexual exploitation.”

None of the allegations have been tested in court.