Crown seeks 13 years for sex abuser

Was Calgary foster parent of the year

The fact that Garry Dale Prokopishin accepted an award as Calgary foster parent of the year while he was sexually abusing four teen boys under his care is “nothing short of outrageous,” Crown prosecutor Gord Haight said in arguing for a 13-year prison sentence on Monday.

Haight said Prokopishin, 56, was in a major position of trust to the boys, acting as the boys’ father, while abusing some of them by giving them money for sex numerous times between 1999 and 2008.

“There was a trust element that took place in the home, where a child should feel safe,” Haight told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Robert Hall.

“The sheer number of incidents and length of time over which the abuse went on were among numerous aggravating factors. Two of the victims said these incidents occurred 11 to 15 times per month. The incidents took place over a number of years. There had to have been some degree of deliberation and planning. That much is obvious. And the offender couldn’t do this in the presence of his wife.”

Haight said Prokopishin groomed the boys by starting with joking, then moved to comments about their genitals, then teasing and sexual acts, which ultimately caused real harm to the victims.

He said there were no aggravating factors and no remorse from the offender.

Defence lawyer Ryan Patmore, seeking a sentence of seven to nine years, said his client is not beyond rehabilitation and is amenable to taking sex-offender treatment while incarcerated.

“Obviously, these were very troubled boys coming into the Prokopishin home, the worst of the worst, and had addiction issues that commenced prior to Mr. Prokopishin paying them off for sexual favours,” Patmore said, noting his client’s wife has applied for

These were very troubled boys, the worst

of the worst

divorce since the convictions.

One of the victims wrote in his victim-impact statement — read aloud in court by Haight — that he has a difficulty trusting people, in particular men, as a result of the abuse.

“This crime has robbed me of my teenage years,” he wrote. “I feel the abuse has had an affect on my learning ability. If not for the abuse, I’d have attended university and got a job I like, instead of only being able to do labour jobs.”

Hall convicted Prokopishin last October of sexually touching the boys. He said the key evidence was the complainants’ descriptions of “guys’ nights,” in which they were taken to different towns outside the city, put up in a hotel, given drinks, dinner and clothes and paid for sex.

Prokopishin declined to make a statement to the court before being sentenced.

Hall said he plans to deliver his sentence on Tuesday.