Sex offender claims he was trying to help young victim, not hurt her

Kyle Anthony Archer, 37, of Fredericton, sentenced to five years in prison, but almost half has already been served on remand

A Fredericton man who abused a pre-teen girl for his sexual pleasure for more than two years told a court he was manipulated into it and was a victim of sexual assault himself.

Kyle Anthony Archer, 37, formerly of Colter Court, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday to be sentenced for sexual assault, sexual interference, creation and possession of child pornography, and improper storage of a firearm.

Kyle Anthony Archer (Photo: Submitted)

He pleaded guilty last year to those crimes, which stemmed from his sexual abuse of a girl who was around 10 years old at the time. The abuse and other crimes occurred between January 2019 and July 2021.

The victim’s identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.

Judge Lucie Mathurin accepted a joint recommendation on sentence from the Crown and defence: five years in prison.

Archer has been in custody since his arrest in July 2021, and the judge noted that after the customary credit of 1.5-to-one is applied to his remand time, that gives him a credit of 897 days - just shy of 2 ½ years.

So the sex offender’s sentence going forward comes to 30 ½ months.

Archer blames ‘other party’

But before Mathurin imposed sentence, she heard from Archer, who tried to paint himself as someone who cared for the victim and only wanted to help her.

“I’d also like to say I abhor violence, manipulation,” said Archer, standing in the courtroom prisoner’s dock, clad in jail-issued orange sweats.

He claimed the young victim was manipulated into “going a certain way,” referring to the fact that she eventually reported his abuse.

Archer said he was the victim of sexual abuse as well, and as such, he empathized with his victim. He said he never intended to harm her or abuse her, and that he actually set out to help the girl, though he didn’t say how.

“I had been manipulated by somebody at some point, and that really messed with my head,” the offender said, claiming he was “conditioned” to do what he did to the young girl.

Duty counsel Melinda Ponting-Moore - who assisted Archer with the sentencing process after he parted ways with three defence lawyers over the course of his case - said Archer was a victim of a sex crime in 2014.

“He was sexually assaulted as well, and that is relevant,” she said.

Mathurin agreed Archer’s history as a victim was something for the court to consider, but she also noted that patterns of sexual abuse often repeat, with former victims becoming victimizers.

While Archer said he was taking responsibility for his crimes, he kept casting blame on “the other party,” whom he never named, and he tried to downplay the extent of his crimes and the number of images and videos he captured of his sexual abuse of the girl.

‘You could aggravate the situation’

The judge warned him, as she did during a previous court appearance, not to minimize his responsibility or to cast aspersions on others.

“Be careful what you relate sometimes because you could aggravate the situation,” Mathurin said.

Courtroom No. 5 in the Fredericton courthouse. (Photo: Don MacPherson/The Fredericton Independent)

Archer said he was dancing a fine line on what he could and couldn’t say. He acknowledged he’d done wrong, but he kept insisting his crimes were more limited in scope than the Crown had suggested.

“I’d rather you judge me on what actually happened and who I actually am,” he told Mathurin.

Archer said he’s not a mastermind who was waiting for a chance to pounce, and he didn’t set out to groom the victim, as the prosecution had alleged.

“The other party, over time, convinced me that something that is illegal was good,” he said.

“I’m not trying to blame people.”

Archer kept going off on vague tangents, and the judge repeatedly tried to get him to focus on how he feels about what he did.

“You take responsibility when you plead guilty, do you not? That’s what I want to hear today,” Mathurin said.

“It’s a 10-year-old victim. You know better.”

“I should’ve known,” Archer answered.

He said he takes responsibility for what he’s done, but only for that and not the actions of anyone else. He said there’s so much more he wanted to tell the court about the crimes, but he couldn’t do so without putting his sentencing recommendation at risk.

Court heard Archer has been in therapy since his arrest and is working to deal with his issues.

‘The offences are completely disgusting’

Mathurin said Archer’s guilty pleas and expression of remorse are mitigating factors in his favour, but his crimes and behaviour were deeply concerning.

“The facts are clear. Mr. Archer groomed this child,” she said, noting there was a steady and continuous escalation of the crimes against the girl over a prolonged period of time.

The amount of child pornography depicting his abuse of the girl - 84 videos and 2,000 images - was an aggravating factor as well, the judge said, though she noted there’s no evidence Archer ever shared that material with others or intended to do so.

The offender tried to take issue with the amount of child pornography the court was attributing to him, but Mathurin cut him off, noting she was giving her decision on sentence and that the time for submissions was over.

“The offences are completely disgusting,” the judge said.

However, she found the five-year joint recommendation fell within the established range for such crimes and was appropriate in the circumstances.

Mathurin also ordered Archer to stay away from any public place at which children could be expected to be present and to have no contact with minors unless their guardians are present.

She also ordered him to register as a sex offender, and both of those orders will be in effect for 20 years following his release from prison.

The judge further ordered him to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database and to have no contact with the victim. She also prohibited him from possessing guns and other weapons for 10 years following his release from prison.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.