Lincoln man violated young son
28-year-old father faces lengthy prison term after court hears he subjected toddler to unimaginable sexual abuse between 2019-23, made child pornography depicting boy
Warning: This story includes disturbing and graphic descriptions of sexual abuse of a young child. This is one of the most disturbing cases this journalist has observed in more than two decades of court reporting. Be advised the details are upsetting.
A Lincoln man used his young son as a sexual plaything over the course of four years, subjecting the child to oral and anal abuse, a court heard Tuesday.
The 28-year-old offender appeared in Fredericton provincial court by video conference from jail Tuesday afternoon for a sentencing hearing.
He’d previously pleaded guilty to four sex-related crimes involving his own son: touching the boy for a sexual purpose, inviting the child to touch him sexually, making child pornography and possessing child porn, all between July 26, 2019, and Aug. 13, 2023.
The identity of the victim is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, and given the offender’s paternal relationship to the boy, the Fredericton Independent isn’t naming him so as to comply with the order.
The offender has been in custody since his arrest.
The abuse began when the boy was only two years old, court heard, and it continued until he was six - two-thirds of the child’s life thus far.
The proceedings got underway Tuesday with Judge Cameron Gunn reading an agreed statement of facts aloud, and the offender then acknowledged that statement summed up the crimes he perpetrated against his own child.
With each passing paragraph, the facts of the case grew more depraved, shocking and unsettling.
Attracted to children for years
“[The offender] has had sexual attraction to children since the age of eight years old,” the agreed statement reads.
“[His wife] was aware of these pedophilic feelings and had discussed with the accused where he had issues with them related to their son. The accused denied having any such urges towards the victim.”
But as the court heard, that wasn’t true.
The abuse came to light when the six-year-old boy told his mother about a “pee in the mouth game” he played with his father, in which he’d urinate in the man’s mouth.
When the victim’s mother confronted the accused, he admitted he had “done everything” to their son.
“I am attracted to younger children, preferably girls but [my son] was convenient. These feelings kind of followed me my whole life,” the accused said in the facts.
“I never acted on my feelings until [my son]. Every time I did something to him, I would say, ‘last time, last time.’ It never was, I lost control of myself.”
He reported to police the earliest he remembers abusing his son was when the boy was two or three years old.
It started, the offender said, when he was bathing the boy, he’d get the child to urinate in his mouth.
From there, he reported, things escalated. He’d coax the toddler to lick his penis by using peanut butter or jam, and sometimes the father would ejaculate as a result of the oral contact.
The abuse continued and worsened, court heard, as the father would take the son’s penis into his mouth, and there was some anal penetration as well.
The offender told police that he kept a container of coconut oil in the basement of their home, “just in case,” and he acknowledged that showed there was some premeditation to what he was doing to his son.
As the boy got older, the offender reported in the statement, he would bribe him with sweets or movies.
He said the incidents occurred between 50 to 100 times since he started abusing his son.
The offender also revealed he took photos of his son’s bum, which were the basis for the child-pornography crimes, and prosecutor Karen Lee showed a representative sample of the images to the judge Tuesday.
“Some images show an adult hand spreading the buttocks to better expose the anal area, and others show the child himself spreading his buttocks,” the agreed statement said.
After confessing his abuse to his wife, the offender told her the family would be better off financially if he were dead, since she would get his work pension and life insurance, court heard.
“He then left the home and cut his wrists,” the agreed statement said.
The child’s mother called police, who located the offender and had him seen by medical personnel.
He later provided a complete and detailed confession to police as well.
Long stint in prison
Lee said the court, in crafting a fit sentence for the egregious crimes, had to balance the mitigating and aggravating factors in the case.
She acknowledged there were important elements in the offender’s favour, notably his guilty pleas, which averted what would have been a difficult trial for the victim and his family.
“This is important given the age of the child,” the prosecutor said.
Lee also noted the accused is a first-time offender who co-operated with police and has shown sincere remorse.
But those mitigating factors are eclipsed by the many aggravating ones in the case, she argued.
The incredibly young age of the victim and the abuse of a position of trust over the boy are particularly concerning, the prosecutor said, noting that the child’s future understanding of how a proper loving, trusting relationship is supposed to work is likely tainted forever.
There’s no way to know for certain what the future effects of these crimes will have on the boy and his mother, Lee said, but that the trauma will be lifelong is undeniable.
“I would note that the offences only stopped when [the boy] said something,” she said, noting the offender didn’t seek help for his issues.
“As the accused has said, he did everything to this child.”
She said his crimes call for a prison term of 14 years.
The prosecutor also asked the court to impose mandatory orders for a DNA sample and sex-offender registration for 20 years, as well as an order barring him from contact with children after he’s served his sentence.
Lee also asked for a 10-year firearms prohibition, an order barring the offender from communicating with his son and wife during the term of his sentence, and forfeiture of a laptop computer, cellphone and the container of coconut oil.
“The abuse is certainly serious, and [the offender] deserves a lengthy sentence,” said defence lawyer Edward Derrah.
But he countered that a 10-year prison term would send the appropriate message of denunciation and deterrence.
He emphasized his client wanted to plead guilty at his first court appearance.
“He didn’t even want to apply for legal aid,” the defence lawyer said.
Derrah said it could have proven to be a difficult case for all concerned had the offender said nothing, but he owned up to his crimes, took responsibility for them and has shown genuine remorse.
He described his client’s pedophilia as an addiction.
“Hopefully, there are treatments that will help him address that issue,” the defence lawyer said.
‘I was supposed to be his role model’
The offender addressed the court, noting there was no way to atone for what he did or to explain it.
“I know there was no defence in my case. I know there was no justifying what I’d done,” he said, acknowledging he’d rationalized his actions while he was harming his son.
“There’s no apology that can ever fix what I’ve done … I’ve essentially blown up my former family’s life.”
He said he hopes admitting to his crimes and taking responsibility for them will help his wife and son pick up the pieces. The offender said he’ll never contact them, either when he’s serving his sentence or after it’s done.
“I was supposed to be [my son’s] role model.” he said. “Instead, I selfishly chose to use and abuse him.”
Gunn reserved his decision on sentence to Friday.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
First time offender? Seriously? He sexually abused his son over 100 times.
I agree with what you say...I’m just saying as a person reading about these crimes, it seems as though they are minimized.