Crown says sexual assault on girl, 7 was ‘planned and deliberate’

One of Hamilton’s most horrific child sexual abuse cases is drawing to a close as an Ontario Court judge weighs the sentence for a man who assaulted his best friend’s stepdaughter — a seven-year-old girl who was repeatedly abused and advertised online.

The 38-year-old, who pleaded guilty to sexual interference and was found guilty of making child pornography, is the fifth and final person to be sentenced in an “unfathomable” case that has been before the courts for two years.

He cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity.

It is not disputed what he did. Court has heard he was drunk and high when he went over to his best friend’s house in Hamilton on April 16, 2016. There, he watched homemade child pornography, watched as his best friend sexually assaulted the girl and then abused her himself.

The man maintains he didn’t know his friend was recording the assault on a cellphone — something Ontario Court Justice Joseph Fiorucci already ruled wasn’t believable.

Crown prosecutor Janet Booy called the assault “planned and deliberate.” The man had watched the pornography before and was aware of what was happening when he drove there that night. She is asking for an eight-year sentence.

The victim was used as “a prop in their perverted show,” she said.

Defence lawyer Stephen Bernstein requested a five-and-a-half-year sentence, which after credit for time served in pretrial custody would equal a non-penitentiary time of less than two years.

Pointing to a pre-sentence report and a psychiatric evaluation, he said his client has very low cognitive abilities and was found to have a low risk of reoffending sexually.

His client grew up with an abusive, including sexually abusive, stepfather. He is an alcoholic, is “extremely remorseful” and had no previous criminal record.

He urged the court to separate his client’s one-time crime from the perpetual crimes of the girl’s stepfather. He said his client’s cognitive impairment made him easily led by more devious peers.

The stepfather was previously sentenced to 13 years — nearly 11 after credit for time served in pretrial custody. The three others in case were sentenced to between three-and-a-half and eight years.

Booy also pointed out that tests showed the 38-year-old’s judgment was normal and that he was previously able to hold down a job and drive.

“He knew he was making a wrong decision.”

She accused him of blaming drugs and alcohol for his actions and noted that a phallometric test measuring sexual deviancy was inconclusive.

Booy read aloud a powerful victim impact statement written by the victim’s aunt, who has travelled three-and-a-half hours to court for every hearing in the case, which was dubbed Project Links.

She is “barely surviving” and feels isolated, depressed and anxious. She constantly worries for her niece, doesn’t trust people and feels guilty she didn’t suspect anything was wrong.

“To think that my little niece held all this inside her delicate mind and tiny body for over a year-and-a-half as the sexual assaults continued is heartbreaking,” the aunt wrote.

“When I look at her innocent little face, I think of people treating her as a piece of property and the awful things she had to endure. I wonder how a child only seven years old could endure so much trauma ... and be alive.”

Booy pointed out the victim is old enough to remember what happened to her. She drew a picture for her victim impact statement: it shows a blond girl with tears streaming down the page.

The Woman Abuse Working Group once again submitted a community victim impact statement.

“The notion that ‘Hamilton is the best place to raise a child’ has been profoundly shaken by these offences. Our community feels less safe and we are collectively heart broken for those who have been harmed.”

The case returns to court Oct. 30 for sentencing.