Foster father sentenced to five years for sex abuse

A Saskatoon woman says she still feels the profound effects of being sexually abused by her foster father, 13 years after it stopped.

“All these years I felt like this was my fault,” said the woman, whose name is protected by a mandatory publication ban.

The assaults, and the way her foster mother reacted when she told her about the touching, left her with trust issues and feeling worthless and gross, court heard.

She recalled taking the bus and wondering if other kids were being touched like she was.

Richard Ludwig, 51, was sentenced to five years in prison for the historical sexual abuse of his foster daughter. The decision was delivered Friday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, two days after a jury found him guilty of sexual assault and sexual interference.

The victim, now 21, testified that Ludwig sexually abused her from 2000 to 2005, when she was between four and nine years old.

She said Ludwig would touch her genitals and force her to touch his, often on a couch in his home on an acreage near Humboldt.

The woman is now a federally serving prisoner and gave her victim impact statement while wearing shackles. She said she started using drugs and alcohol to forget about the abuse, which led to criminal behaviour.

The fact that she was a child who was preyed upon in a home where she deserved to feel safe — by a father figure in a position of trust and authority — justifies a six-year sentence, Crown prosecutor Tamara Rock argued.

Defence lawyer Brad Mitchell agreed that several aggravating factors were present in this case, but argued for a three-year sentence based on case law and because of Ludwig ’s lack of a prior criminal record.

When given a chance to speak, Ludwig told Justice Shawn Smith he had nothing to say.

“Your actions were perverse,” Smith told Ludwig before imposing the sentence. He said the man betrayed both his foster daughter and the government in an “affront” to decent foster parents in Saskatchewan.

In addition to his penitentiary term, Ludwig will also be on the sex offender registry for 20 years.