Crown appeals granddad’s sex-abuse sentence
Court of King’s Bench Justice Thomas Christie imposed conditional sentence of house arrest on Southampton man last month for molesting granddaughter over 10 years
Warning: This report contains graphic details of sexual crimes against minors.
The provincial Attorney General’s Office is seeking to appeal a lenient, community-based sentence given to an elderly Southampton man last month for abusing his granddaughter sexually for years.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Thomas Christie convicted a 74-year-old Southampton man after trial earlier of touching his granddaughter for a sexual purpose over the course of 10 years.
Evidence at trial indicated the abuse began in April 2006 when the girl was four years old, and continued until she was 14.
There’s a court-ordered publication ban on information that would tend to identify the victim, and given the relationship to the offender, the Fredericton Independent isn’t naming him either.
At the conclusion of the offender’s sentencing hearing July 18, Christie imposed a conditional sentence of two years less a day, during which the offender will be under house arrest and numerous other conditions, including limited visitation from others and no contact with the victim or children under the age of 16.
The defence had argued for the conditional sentence based on the man’s poor health. The Crown had recommended a prison term of six years.
Representatives with the provincial Office of the Attorney General - Gwynne Hearn, the prosecutor at trial, and Patrick McGuinty, who handles criminal appeals for the Crown - filed a notice of appeal with the registrar’s offence Thursday morning.
“The trial judge imposed a sentence that is demonstrably unfit and clearly unreasonable and one which fundamentally disregards the parity principle, as well as the sentence guidance set out by the Supreme Court of Canada,” the notice of appeal lists as the main grounds.
No date has been set for the appeal to be heard.
Long-term abuse, long-term trauma
At trial, court heard the victim would frequently stay over at her grandfather’s home because of instability in her parents’ residence, and the girl saw her grandfather’s home as a haven from the chaos in her life.
But the offender started touching the girl sexually at an early age. Christie accepted the girl’s testimony that the man would enter her room and touch her breasts.
Evidence showed he’d lie down in bed with the child, and she spoke of being awakened to find his penis in her mouth.
The offender would also put his penis between her legs, though there wasn’t an indication of actual penetration.
The abuse occurred regularly over the course of several years.
In her victim-impact statement, the girl said her grandfather had shattered her ability to connect with anyone and has torn her family apart.
“You made it so I cannot even trust a single person in my life,” she said last month.
“I had 10 years stolen from me.”
She reported she’s wracked with guilt over the rift her reporting of the abuse has caused in her family, with various members of the clan taking different sides.
“But it’s not my fault,” she said. “I am the last person you will ever touch and control.”
Court heard the victim has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and has trouble sleeping.
The offender continued to profess his innocence during the sentencing hearing.
In arguing for the conditional sentence last month, defence lawyer Edward Derrah urged Christie to consider his client’s ailing health in crafting a sentence.
Court heard the man has a long list of serious medical conditions and takes a variety of medications.
Among those issues are high blood pressure, kidney failure, elevated cholesterol and high risks of heart attacks and strokes. In fact, the mini-strokes the man has suffered already have impacted his memory.
Derrah argued a prison term to deter his client would serve no purpose as he doesn’t remember committing the crimes.
“To what degree do I concern myself with his health while incarcerated?” Christie asked Hearn during the sentencing hearing. “I’m concerned about what to do with that.”
Hearn said the federal prison system handles health issues among inmates all the time, there was no evidence before the court it couldn’t address this offender’s medical challenges.
She said the offender’s health wasn’t something the court needed to address in any way.
In addition to the conditional sentence, Christie ordered a three-year term of probation to follow, during which the offender would be subject to a curfew and would still be barred from contact with the victim.
Furthermore, the judge imposed a lifetime order prohibiting the offender from being in public places - such as parks, pools and community centres - where children could be expected to be present, and to have no unsupervised contact with kids under the age of 16.
The offender was also ordered to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database, to refrain from possessing firearms and other weapons for 10 years, and to register as a sex offender for 20 years.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
I am glad the Crown is going to appeal this absolutely ridiculous sentence.
Prisons have an infirmary. Send him away