Man gets 3 years for assault on young girls

A man known for helping new Canadians in Regina earned a prison sentence this week when he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two children.

Court heard the sisters, then nine and 14, had been in Canada with their family only a few years and that Terrence Stevenson, now 77, was considered a trusted family friend when the offences occurred in 2014.

Stevenson pleaded guilty at Regina Court of Queen’s Bench this week to two counts of sexual assault and breach of a release condition. After hearing submissions, Justice Catherine Dawson agreed to impose the three-year sentence jointly requested by Crown and defence counsel. Because he’s been in custody since the Sept. 1, 2016, breach, Stevenson is left with approximately 11 months to serve.

Court heard the offences first came to light in the spring of 2015 when the younger of the girls told a teacher she’d been sexually assaulted by Stevenson at his residence the year before. During the resulting police interview, investigators learned the older of the sisters had also been victimized by Stevenson.

Crown prosecutor Leona Andrews said Stevenson was involved in the family’s community, “assisting newcomers to Canada.” Court heard the girls’ parents didn’t speak English well and so the girls would assist Stevenson by translating for him.

Court heard Stevenson and the family visited frequently and Stevenson would help with the family’s paperwork and the girls’ homework.

It was during the routine visits by the girls to Stevenson’s residence that the abuse occurred.

Both girls said it happened more than once and that the assaults involved sexual touching both over and under their clothes and, in the case of the younger girl, digital penetration while he professed to be measuring her. He also claimed to be measuring the older girl on one occasion when he touched her sexually.

Andrews said the girls didn’t report the incidents right away because they feared “no one would believe them and (were) worried about what would happen to their family if they did tell anyone.”

Victim impact statements from the girls speak to continued depression and anxiety. Andrews added the girls’ community, which is small in Regina, initially shunned the family after the girls came forward.

Stevenson was arrested on the same day the girls spoke to police. He was released with conditions a few days later, but breached them when he was seen picking up two kids from a local school. Court heard Stevenson has a related criminal record with a conviction related to an underage prostitute.

The sentence also includes lifetime placement on the national sex offender registry and a 10-year order restricting Stevenson’s ability to contact children or attend places where they are likely to be present.