Paramedic gets four years for sex assault on senior

WINDSOR, N. S. — A Nova Scotia man working as a paramedic abused his position of trust when he sexually assaulted a 71-year-old patient in her home, a judge said Monday before she sentenced James Duncan Keats to four years in prison.

Provincial court Judge Claudine MacDonald ordered Keats to provide a DNA sample as his name will be added to the National Sex Offender Registry for the next 20 years.

“You knew exactly what you were doing,” MacDonald told Keats during his sentencing hearing in Windsor, N.S. “You used the opportunity presented to you … to sexually assault the victim.”

Keats, 50, was convicted in June of assaulting the woman in her home in the Annapolis Valley in 2013 while his partner tended to her ailing husband in another room.

Court heard that the accused took the woman to her upstairs bedroom to examine her when she complained of chest pains after her husband fell in their kitchen.

MacDonald told the court that Keats asked the woman to lay on the bed, undressed her, fondled her and had intercourse with her, telling her: “You’re going to feel so much better.”

Court heard that the woman pleaded with him to stop, but he persisted and kissed her hand when he left the room, saying: “You’re a beautiful lady.”

The trial, which started in September 2014, heard that the woman provided swab samples and bed sheets that later found DNA from her and Keats, along with semen.

“The victim told Mr. Keats that she didn’t want him to touch her,” MacDonald told court Monday.

Keats, a paramedic for 14 years, had pleaded not guilty to the charge and has maintained his innocence. He has no previous criminal record.

His lawyer, Chrystal MacAulay, said outside court her client will seek an appeal of the conviction and the sentence.

She said Keats was concerned about how his conviction will be perceived by the public.

“He does not want the public to feel hesitant to call 911 or to seek assistance from paramedics or ambulance attendants in general,” MacAulay said.

“We have an excellent paramedic service in this province.”