Man gets eight years for molesting girl

A former Truro man convicted of sexually abusing a girl over a period of more than seven years has been handed an eight-year prison sentence.

Kevin James Johnson, 34, of Cape John, Pictou County, was sentenced last week in Truro provincial court on a charge of sexual interference.

The offence was committed in Truro and other parts of Colchester County between January 2012 and November 2019, when the girl told her mother about the abuse.

Johnson was also found guilty in January of sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching, but those charges were stayed at sentencing.

There’s a publication ban on the identity of the victim, who was in Grade 3 when the abuse began.

The teen testified at trial that Johnson told her that if she reported the activity to anyone, he would have her arrested by police.

Crown attorney Thomas Kayter asked for an eight-year sentence, saying Johnson’s illegal conduct was “prolonged, prolific and highly invasive.”

The victim chose not to file an impact statement, but Kayter said he could advise the court from his own interactions with the girl that the abuse has had a significant and extreme effect on her.

“The Crown hopes that by concluding the criminal justice matter today, in whatever form justice takes, she can begin her journey of healing,” the prosecutor said.

Defence lawyer Nic Hoehne said the sentence requested by the Crown was too high. He recommended three years in prison.

Hoehne said his client has professed his innocence from the beginning.

Judge Alain Begin said he arrived at the eight-year sentence independent of the Crown’s recommendation.

“This is the appropriate sentence considering what you did to (the girl),” Begin told Johnson.

“These were repeated sexual acts over a long period of time. There was grooming. There was escalation over time.”

The judge said he heard the complainant testify about having flashbacks, breakdowns and panic attacks.

“I am well aware of the true, long-lasting and pervasive consequences of the criminal sexual abuse on (the victim) by Mr. Johnson for his deviant … sexual gratification,” Begin said.

He noted that when given the opportunity to address the court at sentencing, Johnson neither took responsibility nor was remorseful for his actions.

Johnson is prohibited from having contact with the victim or her family while he’s in prison or on parole.

Begin ordered Johnson to provide a DNA sample for a national databank and register as a sex offender for 20 years after he gets out of prison. He also imposed a 10-year firearms prohibition and a 20year order requiring Johnson to stay away from parks, playgrounds, pools, daycares and other places where persons under the age of 16 are likely to be present.

Later in the week, Johnson was sentenced in Truro provincial court to three months in jail, followed by a year’s probation, on an unrelated charge of distributing intimate images without consent. That offence was committed in April 2020, and Johnson was found guilty last November.