Bertrand Charest’s lawyer in court Thursday seeking his client’s release from prison

A lawyer for ex-national ski coach Bertrand Charest will be in court Thursday seeking his client’s release from prison pending an appeal of his conviction on sex crimes involving teenage girls.

Charest was found guilty last June of 37 of the 57 sex-related charges he was facing.

READ MORE: Ex-ski coach Bertrand Charest sentenced to 12 years for sex-related crimes

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And last week a judge sentenced him to a 12-year prison term, although his time in detention since his arrest in 2015 means he has seven years and 10 months left.

Defence lawyer Antonio Cabral will argue in the Quebec Court of Appeal in Montreal this morning that Charest should be released pending the outcome of the appeal against the guilty verdicts.

READ MORE: Ex-ski coach Bertrand Charest to appeal sex-crime convictions

Cabral has said the trial judge erred in several instances.

The convictions involved nine of the 12 women who’d accused Charest of crimes dating back more than 20 years.

READ MORE: Alpine Canada apologizes to victims of former national ski coach Bertand Charest

All but one of the 12 were under the age of 18 at the time, with the youngest being 12 years old.