Plumber receives six-month conditional sentence for sexual assault
By Delon Shurtz on March 25, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDDshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A plumber has been placed under house arrest for sexually assaulting a woman during a house call last summer.When Alan Grant Matejko arrived at a rural home last July to do some plumbing, the only person home at the time was the homeowner’s 26-year-old daughter. Matejko hugged the woman and gave her a massage, during which the woman was frozen with fear.
Matejko also touched the woman’s shoulder, arms, lower back and buttocks, and at one point cornered her near a bar where he reached under her shirt and touched her breasts.
The 56-year-old grandfather pleaded guilty Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court to one count of sexual assault, and received a six-month conditional sentence, the first three months of which he must serve under house arrest at his northside home. During the remaining three months he must obey a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Matejko is prohibited from contacting the complainant or any of her family, and he cannot go near their home. He must take counselling for life skills or as directed by his supervisor, and he is not to consume intoxicating substances.
Crown Prosecutor Clayton Giles told court the offence was on the “lower end of the scale” and would have been difficult to prove had the case gone to trial. He noted that even though the victim seemed to acquiesce and didn’t try to push Matejko away during the assault, it was only because she was “paralyzed out of shock and fear.”
Giles also gave Matejko some credit for his guilty plea, which avoided having to run a difficult trial.
Lethbridge lawyer Ingrid Hess said her client is a shy, emotionally repressed individual, but she could not offer an explanation for his actions that day and said he struggles to explain them, as well.
Hess said he is already taking counseling and has never before shown any propensities for such behaviour, and the impact on his life since the incident assures he will never repeat the offence.
“His wife is quite upset with what has happened,” Hess said, pointing out the couple has been married for nearly 32 years.
Judge John Maher, who consented to the Crown and defence recommendation for a conditional sentence, warned Matejko that if he breaches any of the conditions of his sentence he will likely spend the remaining portion of his sentence in jail.
In addition, Matejko must submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Databank, and he must register with the Sex Offender Information Registry for 10 years.
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