Lincoln man admits to sexually abusing son
28-year-old also pleaded guilty Thursday to making child porn depicting his toddler
A Lincoln man will be sentenced in two months’ time after admitting Thursday morning he subjected his own son to sexual abuse over the course of four years, beginning when the boy was a toddler.
The 28-year-old defendant appeared in Fredericton provincial court Thursday morning by telephone from the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre, where he’s been in custody since he was charged this summer.
There’s a court-ordered publication ban protecting the identity of the victim in the case - the defendant’s young son - so the Fredericton Independent isn’t naming the father so as to comply with that order.
The offender elected Thursday to be tried in provincial court and pleaded guilty to four serious sex offences: touching his son for a sexual purpose, inviting the boy to touch him for a sexual purpose, making child pornography and possessing child porn.
The charges indicate those crimes took place over the course of four years, from July 26, 2019, and Aug. 13, 2023.
Court heard previously that the victim was two years old when the abuse started.
Defence lawyer Edward Derrah asked that a pre-sentence report on his client be prepared for the court’s consideration, and prosecutor Rebekah Logan asked for victim-impact statements from the victim and his mother.
Judge Mary Jane Richards scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19, and remanded the offender again until that time.
The defendant also faced two other serious charges alleged to have occurred over the same timeframe: sexual assault and incest.
Logan told court it’s expected the Crown will withdraw those charges at sentencing.
The defendant’s admission to the sexual-touching crimes but not the incest charge could be significant at sentencing.
Elements of an incest offence include the perpetrator to be a blood relation to the victim and for there to be sexual penetration.
When a sexual violation includes penetration, that’s considered an additional aggravating factor as outlined in key precedents that guide judges in sentencing.
In any case, given the extended period over which the abuse occurred and the offender’s serious breach of trust as a parent, it’s likely he’s facing a federal prison term for the crimes.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Sickening! These people need be punished in the worst possible way!
WTF. Can everyone just to see a therapist to sort out your crap on your own instead of working out your issues by using other people ?