Man gets two years for sex crimes against daughter of woman he was dating

By Peggy Revell on December 14, 2017.

prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell

A southern Alberta man was sentenced to two years in jail for sex crimes against a young girl, committed while he dated her mother.

“We feel violated in so many ways,” said the victim’s mother, reading her victim impact statement Wednesday at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Medicine Hat during sentencing. She called the man’s actions the “deepest betrayal a mother could feel.”

“These were my little girls,” she said, and she feels strong guilt for having not protected them.

A publication ban is in place on anything that might identify the victims, which is why the name of the man is not being used.

In February, the man was found guilty on one count of sexual assault, touching for sexual purposes, invitation for sexual purposes for incidents that took place between 2008 and 2015 in the Bow Island area.

He was found not guilty of sexual assault and touching for a sexual purpose of another daughter. There were five incidents pointed to where the man either touched the girl’s genitals, or had her touch his. In one case, he told her that “if she ever told anyone else, she’d be in more trouble than him,” the court heard.

“It’s impossible to quantify the effect this has had on the victims,” said the Crown, noting aggravating factors such as the victim’s age, that the man was in a position of trust, that the incidents occurred over a period of time, and that the man took advantage of the victim when she was particularly vulnerable.

“It made me sad and scared,” were the worlds from the girl’s victim impact statement read by the Crown. “When I think about it, I cry … I have nightmares.

“I’m angry this happened to me.”

The mother spoke of how she can’t sleep in her bedroom anymore, that she sleeps on the couch most nights and cries herself to sleep.

“My home will never be the same to me,” she said.

A pre-sentencing report, psychiatric and risk assessment were ordered, with sentencing pushed back to December. The sentence was a joint submission by Crown and defence counsel, and is followed by three years probation. No contact is allowed with the victims, and other limits on the man’s ability to be around people under the age of 16. He will also have to register under the sex offender’s register for life.

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