Sept. 7 sentencing in sex exploitation case

A former Oakville cheerleading coach who was convicted of sexually exploiting a 16-year-old girl will be sentenced on Sept. 7. Jonathan O’Brien, 27, of Grimsby, was found guilty of sexual exploitation on May 9. In a Burlington courtroom Thursday before Justice Lesley Baldwin, the Crown and defence submitted proposals for O’Brien’s sentence. The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was also present and could be seen choking back tears at one point. O’Brien was arrested in 2014 after the parents of a 16-year-old girl contacted Halton police about an inappropriate sexual relationship between their daughter, who had been a participant at an Oakville cheerleading training centre, and O’Brien who was a coach there. During the trial, the victim testified how texting between the two about cheerleading became flirtatious and eventually sexual. Not long after her 16th birthday, a sexual relationship between the two began, which lasted from January to April 2014. Both testified these sexual encounters took place in O’Brien’s car as well as at the victim’s home while her parents were away and at his home while his parents were away — O’Brien was 25 at the time.