JAIL TIME IMMINENT
Sex offender awaits sentencing for early 1990s crimes
A Charlottetown man will soon learn his punishment for sexually assaulting a girl almost 25 years ago.
Crown Attorney Lisa Goulden Tuesday suggested a judge consider a jail sentence of four to five years as a “starting point’’ for Phillip Alexander Whittaker, 61, and work up or down from there based on the individual factors in the case.
Defence lawyer Thane MacEachern countered by requesting Provincial Court Judge John Douglas consider a sentence more in the range of one year.
Douglas said he would make a decision on sentencing on Nov. 21.
Whittaker has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenaged girl in early 1993 and to touching the same person for a sexual purpose in 1991.
Goulden read the agreed statement of facts into court.
In the first instance, the victim was 13 years old. She remembered being woken up in a tent and Whittaker performing oral sex on her. She struggled and said no. Whittaker told her to be quiet.
She said Whittaker attempted to put his penis in her mouth. The incident continued for about 15 minutes until Whittaker crawled off and left the tent.
In his statement to police, Whittaker said he provided beer and marihuana to the teen. He went into the tent and started kissing and touching the victim, removed her clothes and performed oral sex.
He said the victim said “no” at some point and he stopped, left the tent and drank some more beer.
The victim described the second incident in January 1993 starting with Whittaker touching her over her clothing while the pair was on a couch together.
The victim said “no”, and Whittaker suggested she go to sleep in his room and he would sleep on the couch.
After she went to bed, Whittaker went into the room and began touching her sexually.
He took of his clothes and took off her clothes. She tried to get out of the room, but he would not let her leave.
He performed oral sex and had her perform oral sex.
In Whittaker’s statement to police on the incident, he said once the victim started to cry he realized that he had “seriously crossed a bad line.’’
The victim reported to Charlottetown Police on July 26, 2016, that she had been the victim of sexual assaults. She described four separate incidents.
In a statement made to police on July 29, 2016, Whittaker admitted to committing sexual assaults on two of the occasions described. He denied the other two incidents.
Whittaker, who has cancer, stood in court to say that he wished “to extend an apology to the victim.’’
Defence lawyer Thane MacEachern said his client Whittaker has accepted responsibility and “deeply regrets what he did.’’