Man who molested stepdaughter to be sentenced next week

The fate of a man who molested his teenage stepdaughter is now in the hands of a Niagara judge.

The 53- year- old St. Catharines resident was arrested in November 2015 and charged with several sex- related offences involving the child who was under the age of 16.

He was found guilty of sexual interference following a jury trial in Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines. His name cannot be published in order to protect the identity of the victim.

At a sentencing hearing Thursday, assistant Crown attorney Todd Morris asked Judge Meredith Donohue to consider a jail term of five years, with credit given for the time the man has spent in pretrial custody, followed a lengthy probationary period.

Morris said the defendant’s plea of not guilty forced the young victim to relive the horror of her ordeal as she had to testify at both a preliminary hearing and the jury trial.

He said the offender, a refugee from South America, molested the teenager on a number of occasions over a five- month period in 2015.

He said the man was in a position of trust and used the victim for his own sexual gratification.

The Crown said a victim impact statement entered into evidence but not read in court, was “very raw and very honest,” and describes how the victim continues to struggle with what happened.

Morris also asked the judge to impose a condition that the man not take on a caregiver role to anyone under 16.

Defence lawyer Scott Reid said an appropriate sentence for his client, who has no criminal record, would be two years less a day, less pretrial custody.

The defendant has spent the equivalent of just under three years in custody pending trial.

Reid said the sexual interference involved oral sex and “dry humping” over clothing. There was no penetration.

“In my respectful submission, a penitentiary sentence is unwarranted,” he told the judge.

“There were three to five incidents testified to and some were nothing more than kissing.”

Reid said his client has only seen his biological daughter twice since he’s been incarcerated.

“He hasn’t been able to care for her. He hasn’t been able to hug her. He hasn’t been able to talk to her,” he said.

“Her father needs to be out of custody so he can care for her.”

Donohue will deliver her sentence March 1.