- An Edmonton judge has reluctantly agreed to an 11-year prison term for a city man who videotaped his sexual abuse of six children, including his own two daughters.
- Provincial court Judge Terry Matchett had adjourned the 37-year-old man’s sentencing last week after saying he was concerned the proposed 11-year joint submission by Crown and defence was too low for the horrific crimes.
- However, he agreed to the sentence on Tuesday, saying he “cannot conclude it is either unfit or unreasonable.”
- Matchett had earlier said he felt the proposed sentence was inadequate due to the the fact there were multiple victims and a “staggering” amount of child porn involved.
- But Tuesday, the judge accepted the submissions that the guilty pleas both showed remorse and spared the victims from “reliving the nightmares” by having to testify.
- Matchett also accepted that there were “evidentiary” problems with the case.
- The man, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban protecting the identity of his daughters, was given 40 months credit for pre-trial custody time, leaving him with seven years and eight months to serve.
- He was also placed on the national sex offender registry for 20 years and banned from going to places where children are likely to be, for 20 years as well.
- The man earlier pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including sexual assault, sexual interference, incest and the possession and making of child pornography.
- According to agreed facts, the man was busted in June 2008 after a tip led police to raid a north-side home where he was living with his girlfriend and their daughter.
- Police seized several computers and eventually found 14,000 child porn images, some made by the accused, and 98 child porn movies, of which he had made 26 of them with his six child victims, including his two daughters.
- Matchett said the “enormous” child porn collection was filled with “disturbing” images taken by deviant predators that would shock ordinary people “to their core.”
- Court heard the remaining victims are a sister of his girlfriend, a cousin of one of his daughters and two friends of the other daughter and all but one of them were asleep when the child porn videos were made.
- One daughter, now 14, told police her father had been sexually abusing her for five to six years. She also said her dad would encourage her to invite friends for sleepovers, but she wouldn’t so nothing would happen to them.
- The man’s other daughter was about three years old when she was sexually abused on video, while the other victims ranged in age from seven to 15 years old.
- According to the agreed facts, one of the victims, who was a friend of the accused’s older daughter, had complained to police about being sexually assaulted by the man in 2004, however some inconsistencies and other concerns resulted in police not proceeding then with charges.
- That same victim also told police she had felt weird when she had woken up the morning after the assault and had difficulty moving her legs, which she described as numb.
- Another victim, who was also assaulted during a sleepover at the accused’s home, told police they were not allowed to have pop, but said the accused would only let them have a glass of milk which he provided to them.
- Matchett said it was aggravating that the sex offender had abused his position of trust with some of the victims, especially his own daughters, and harshly criticized him for abusing them for his sexual gratification, rather than protecting them and giving them a good, loving home.
- The judge also cited some of the victim impact statements filed in the case and noted that one girl had written: “He has stolen my life from me forever.”
- Just before being sentenced, the man apologized.
- “Obviously I have a problem and I’ll deal with it when I get to the penitentiary,” he said.
- Court heard the accused’s girlfriend is also facing related charges and has a trial set for June.
I always say that prison is not effective and does not deter, but in this case, I feel that prison is an appropriate sanction. This man abused his trust as a father and committing some horrible acts against his daughters, sexually abusing them for years. This man needs to be in prison under the principle of incapacitation (so he will not commit more crime) and denunciation (society's disapproval of the crime). He is eligible for full parole in just over 3 and a half years. In prison, he should participate in sex offender programs.
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