Man gets 20-month sentence for sexual assault

Judge says man robbed his victim and her family of something that cannot be quantified

CORNER BROOK — A west coast man will spend the next 20 months in jail for sexually assaulting a young girl who considered him her father.

In his written decision released following a sentencing hearing in provincial court in Corner Brook on Monday, Judge Wayne Gorman said the man robbed the girl, who is now 13, and her family of something that cannot be quantified.

Gorman said the 44-yearold man did this purposely, despite saying he considered the girl to be his daughter.

He said the family will spend many years worrying.

“They will live in constant fear that something has happened to (the girl) that they are powerless to assist her with and which will cause her unfathomable harm.”

The man is not being identified because of the familial relationship between him and the girl.

He had been in a relationship with the girl’s mother from 2012-17 and the three of them lived together for much of that time. After the couple split up, the man continued to be part of the girl’s life.

Gorman said it was not possible to determine the exact date when the sexual assaults began, but that the girl testified she began to become uncomfortable with the way the man was touching her when she was nine or 10.

The assaults included placing his hands under her pants and underwear in both the front and back of her clothing and then rubbing those parts of her body. He also put his hand under her bra and touched her breast on one occasion, and he put his hand on her bum regularly and consistently.

The girl told her mother about the abuse in July 2020.

In her victim impact statement, the girl referred to the sense of betrayal she has felt as a result of the abuse.

“He made me feel like I was his daughter, but I soon found out that he would be the worst thing that would ever happen to me,” she wrote in her statement, which she read at the man’s sentencing hearing last Friday.

Her mother spoke of blaming herself for what happened.

“I feel guilty because I brought him into (her) life. I feel like I did this to her in a way.”

Up to Monday, the man had been in custody for nine days and will be credited at one and a half days for each of those days, reducing his sentence by 14 days.

Upon completion of his sentence, he will be subject to a probation order for one year.

He must register with the nationa sex offender registry for 10 years and provide a sample of his DNA, and will be subject to a 10-year weapons prohibition. He is also prohibited for 20 years from working or volunteering in a capacity that involves being in a position of trust or authority toward persons under the age of 16.