- A 19-year-old man in Sault Ste Marie, Ont. was sentenced to nine months in prison after he impregnated his 13-year-old cousin.
- Court heard Monday that the girl wanted to have intercourse with the older boy and considered him her boyfriend.
- The 19-year-old pleaded guilty to three offences stemming from the relationship.
- He was found guilty of sexual assault, and still faces charges of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.
- A publication ban prohibits reporting any information that may identify the victim.
- He admitted to police that he had intercourse with the girl about 47 times between October and November, prosecutor Nancy Komsa said.
- Defence counsel Eric McCooeyed described his client, who was 18 turning 19 at the time and suffers from mental health issues, as “immature for his chronological age."
- He said there was no coercion, alcohol or drugs involved.
- “He knows his conduct was wrong and he can’t resume a relationship of any kind with her,” McCooeyed said.’
- The Crown was seeking a nine-to-12 month jail term, while the defence called for a six-month sentence.
- Ontario Court Justice Andrew Buttazzoni said that were it not for the mitigating factors, he would have handed down a one-year sentence for the first-time offender.
- “It appears there was a genuine relationship, but the message has to go out, in sentencing in cases of this kind, that sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old by an adult will be dealt with seriously by the court,” said Ontario Court Justice Andrew Buttazzoni.
I feel that the sentence should have been 6 months, as Defence suggested. This man needs to seek help for his mental health issues and prison will probably damage him even more, yet he still needs to be punished.
