10 YEARS FOR ‘A MONSTER’
Heerema jailed for sex crimes
Former Young Canadians business administrator Philip Heerema was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for sexually abusing male performers with the troupe.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Larry Ackerl accepted a joint proposal from the Crown and defence, which will see Heerema serve a decade for preying on six members of the Calgary Stampede group.
Heerema pleaded guilty earlier this year to eight charges, including sexual assault and making child pornography, in connection with dealings with teenage performers under his tutelage.
Ackerl said Heerema “betrayed the trust” of his victims over a twodecade period, during which he took advantage of his position with the Young Canadians to groom them.
“His calculated conduct was morally despicable and ultimately criminal,” the judge said.
He noted victim-impact statements were filed by three of the boys and the mother of one of them.
“They spoke to the devastating impact these offences had upon them,” Ackerl said.
They included reference to “an aftermath of ongoing mental and physical pain.”
The judge said all of the victims — five of whom testified at Heerema’s trial before he decided to plead guilty and all of whom testified at his preliminary inquiry — showed “eloquence and courage.”
Outside court, the mother of the first of the victims to come forward with allegations against Heerema addressed the media.
“I’m not surprised the justice accepted the joint submission. It would have been very difficult for him to do otherwise,” she said. “I don’t think it was long enough.” She noted with early release provisions, Heerema won’t spend anything near 10 years behind bars.
“The reality is … he will never actually serve 10 years in jail. Ten years in jail might have been enough of a sentence if he was actually going to be in jail for that, but he won’t be, so I don’t feel great about it.”
She said while she appreciated Ackerl’s comments, she wished he had gone further in criticizing Heerema’s actions.
“I wish he had done more to actually admonish Phil … he had an opportunity to say in words that he was a monster,” she said.
The mom, who can’t be identified to protect her son’s privacy, said a lengthy apology Heerema provided Tuesday did not seem sincere.
“His apology was not genuine. He never once said ‘I am sorry’ to the children, he never said ‘I am sorry for what I have done,’ what he said was he was sorry for the choices I’ve made and he made it sound like he was taken down a path by the children and that he went willingly with them.
“He did not accept responsibility for the fact he lured them.”
She said Heerema’s offending has devastated her son’s life, forcing the once strong student to withdraw from university.
The mom said singing and dancing with the Young Canadians was her son’s life.
“The judge said, ‘may you sing, may you dance’ … my son was in the Young Canadians, it was his whole life. He got up in the morning, he loved singing and dancing, he pirouetted around our house and he sang all the time,” she said.
“He doesn’t sing and he doesn’t dance any more.”