The Rochefort Case: Montreal Police Seek More Victims, Investigation Broadened to 19 Years

Forty-eight hours after Me Daniel Rochefort's second court appearance, the Montreal police's Sexual Assault Section is broadening its investigation. The period now under review spans nineteen years — from 2007 to 2026 — and the police are formally seeking the public's help.

The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) announced on Wednesday that it is seeking possible additional victims of lawyer Daniel Rochefort. According to the official press release, two specialized units — the Sexual Exploitation Section and the Sexual Assault Section — have "reason to believe" that further offences may have been committed, over a period stretching from 2007 to today. To support the appeal, the SPVM is releasing two photographs of the suspect, taken seventeen years apart, and confirms that the serial-crime investigation management structure coordinated by the Sûreté du Québec has been deployed.

An investigation window that goes from five to nineteen years

Until Monday, Me Rochefort's criminal file, at 72 years of age, covered two distinct but limited periods: May 1 to 7, 2026 (the undercover sting operation) and January 2007 to January 2012 (the historical chapter involving a complainant identified in court only by the initials A.K.).

The SPVM press release issued today significantly broadens the temporal window of the investigation. Investigators from the two specialized units now state that "the events alleged against him are said to have taken place between 2007 and 2026" — a span of nineteen years. The wording, cautious but precise, indicates that the police have material giving them reason to believe other victims may exist within that timeframe, though no new criminal charges have yet been filed.

Two photos, taken seventeen years apart

An unusual detail in the police communication: the SPVM is releasing two photos of Me Rochefort. One dates back to 2009, the other to 2026. "To facilitate identification of the suspect, the SPVM is releasing two photos as his appearance has changed over the years," the release states.

The decision to go back to 2009 is not incidental. It roughly corresponds to the period in which the SPVM situates the beginning of the alleged conduct — 2007 — and reflects an investigative approach aimed at reaching people who may have been in contact with the lawyer almost twenty years ago, when his physical appearance was noticeably different.

The SPVM also released the suspect's full physical description: a white man, 72 years old, 1.73 metres tall, weighing 77 kilograms, with white hair and blue eyes.

The aliases used on Instagram and Snapchat

The release also publicly confirms, for the first time, the aliases the lawyer is alleged to have used on social media in the course of the conduct under investigation. According to investigators, Me Rochefort would have communicated with his potential victims primarily through two mobile platforms:

• Instagram, under the alias dannyrock16752
• Snapchat, under the alias dannyrock201721

Releasing these identifiers is a standard investigative step in cases of online sexual offences targeting minors: it allows people who may have been in contact with these accounts — without necessarily knowing the real identity of their correspondent — to recognize them and come forward to the authorities.

These aliases — combining a familiar first name with a sequence of digits — fit a typology well known to investigators specializing in the online sexual exploitation of children. No information has been made public, at this stage, about the number of Snapchat or Instagram accounts that may have been in contact with these aliases, nor about how long the accounts were active.

A deployment reserved for serial-predator files

Another detail of the official release deserves particular attention. The SPVM states:

"As the investigation indicates the possible existence of multiple victims, the serial-crime investigation management structure (GECS), coordinated by the Sûreté du Québec, has been deployed." — SPVM press release, May 13, 2026

The GECS is a unified command structure within which Quebec police services work in partnership to rapidly identify crimes committed by predators and proceed with their arrest. Its deployment, coordinated by the Sûreté du Québec, is not automatic — it is reserved for files in which the police have serious grounds to believe that a suspect may have committed offences against multiple victims over an extended period.

The fact that the GECS is activated in the Rochefort file is a meaningful signal: the SPVM is not treating this as an isolated matter, but as a potential investigation into serial conduct. The nineteen-year window now announced is consistent with that approach.

For anonymous and confidential reports, the SPVM also directs members of the public to Info-Crime Montréal at 514-393-1133, or to the reporting form on infocrimemontreal.ca.

Context: where the criminal file stands

The appeal for witnesses launched Wednesday comes the day after Me Rochefort's second court appearance, on Monday, May 11, before Judge Suzanne Costom of the Court of Quebec. At the close of that hearing, nine new charges had been added to the two original ones — bringing the total to eleven criminal counts.

The SPVM release issued Wednesday does not stand in for new criminal charges. It is a public investigative step: if other people come forward, and if the evidence gathered makes it possible to establish further offences, additional charges may eventually be filed. The nineteen-year investigation window — 2007 to 2026 — does, however, cover a much broader period than the charges already on the record.

The angle no mainstream outlet has yet raised

One question remains, for the moment, without public answer: Me Rochefort's professional status on the Roll of the Barreau du Québec.

As of Monday, May 11 — the day after the second wave of criminal charges — Me Rochefort was still listed on the Barreau's official directory of lawyers, according to checks by Le Journal de Montréal. No public disciplinary measure had been announced.

Yet section 122.0.1 of the Professional Code allows the syndic of a professional order to seek the provisional suspension or limitation of the activities of a member facing a prosecution for an offence punishable by five years' imprisonment or more — which is clearly the case here, several of the charges filed against Me Rochefort carrying maximum sentences well above that threshold.

In another recent case — that of lawyer Émile-Haïm Benamor, owner of the Old Montreal building that burned in 2023 — the Disciplinary Council of the Barreau du Québec relied precisely on that section to order a provisional suspension of professional activities. The syndic invoked offences described as "very serious" and "in direct contravention of the fundamental attributes of the legal profession." The suspension has since been stayed by the Professions Tribunal, but the mechanism remains available.

At the time of publication, Justice-Quebec.ca has not obtained official confirmation of any action by the syndic of the Barreau du Québec concerning Me Daniel Rochefort. The website of Rochefort et Associés remained offline.

The updated case timeline

What this article does not say — and why

This article reports an official appeal for witnesses by a Canadian police service. It does not suggest that other victims do exist — that remains to be established by the police investigation. It reports that the police have reason to believe that other people may have been in contact with Me Rochefort in the circumstances covered by the criminal charges against him.

None of the information reported here makes it possible, directly or indirectly, to identify the complainant designated by the initials A.K. in the initial information. The publication ban under section 486.4 of the Criminal Code remains fully respected.

Where things stand

As this article is being published, Me Daniel Rochefort remains in custody at the Montreal Detention Facility. He faces eleven criminal counts covering two distinct chapters. A broadened police investigation, covering the period 2007 to 2026, now seeks to identify other people who may have been in contact with him in circumstances similar to those covered by the charges already on the record.

The hearing scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2026, will be an opportunity to better understand the defence's position, the release plan it will propose, and the precise grounds on which the Crown will rely to oppose release. The question of a provisional suspension of his right to practise, under section 122.0.1 of the Professional Code, remains, for the moment, open.

Justice-Quebec.ca will follow that hearing.