Four-year jail sentence imposed on sex offence

SYDNEY — A Sydney man has been sentenced to complete a four-year prison term after being convicted on a charge of sexual interference.

Sean Francis O’Connell, 40, was found guilty of sexual interference and sexual assault after a Supreme Court trial last fall.

Prosecutor Bronte Fudge-Lucas asked Supreme Court Justice Patrick Murray to stay the sexual assault conviction. Under Canadian law, an offender cannot be convicted of two offences that are the result of the same act. Murray granted the request.

In addition to the jail sentence, O’Connell was ordered to submit a DNA sample to the national registry, he is banned from possessing weapons for 10 years, he is to be a registered sex offender for 20 years and is to stay away from areas where young people are likely to gather such as parks, public pools and playgrounds for 10 years.

Fudge-Lucas had recommended a sentence of five years while defence lawyer Tony Mozvik offered a threeyear recommendation.

“These offences had a devastating impact on the victim’s mental health and general wellbeing,” said Murray, in passing sentence.

He said the young woman’s personal integrity was violated and that any sentence must reflect the gravity of the offence.

The offences occurred in Sydney between July and August 2013 when the victim was 15 and was experiencing some difficulties at home at the time.

In her victim impact statement to the court, the victim, now in her 20s, said O’Connell used her childhood troubles for his own advantage.

In his trial decision, Murray said he found O’Connell’s testimony inconsistent and contradictory while the evidence of the victim was both credible and reliable.

The name and any information that could identify the victim is banned from publication.

The woman and O’Connell were known to each other prior and the incidents of abuse occurred in a home owned by O’Connell.

The victim had testified that prior to being physically touched by O’Connell, he started making sexually suggestive comments such as how good her butt looked. She said he would then touch or grab her buttocks.

She said the first incident of sexual intercourse course occurred in a bedroom when O’Connell placed her hand on his penis. Other incidents of abuse included oral sex and sexual intercourse.

She said the abuse stopped when O’Connell’s then-girlfriend became pregnant. O’Connell is the father of two daughters.

Mozvik told the court that his client deals with some mental health issues and urged the court to employ restraint in sentencing the first-time offender.

O’Connell is now scheduled to return to provincial court May 8 for a pre-trial conference on two counts of sexual assault, two counts of distributing intimate images of another individual without permission and single counts of assault causing bodily harm and assault.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between 2015 and 2018 in Sydney.