More than a year after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting his sisters, a man has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
On June 19 in BC Supreme Court in Prince George, Justice Palbinder Kaur Shergill sentenced the man to six years for offences against one victim and four years for offences against another. However, Shergill reduced those sentences to five years and two years, respectively, and ordered them served consecutively because the combined sentence must not be unduly long or harsh.
"Ultimately, the sentence reflects the serious and harmful nature of the offences, the significant harm caused to two vulnerable victims and the need to protect the public, while remaining consistent with the applicable principles of sentencing and the range established in the authorities," Shergill said.
The man was charged with offences committed between 2018 and 2021. On June 6, 2025, Shergill found him guilty of sexually assaulting one victim but not guilty of sexual interference involving a person under 16. He was found guilty of both charges involving the second victim.
The case is subject to a publication ban to protect the identities of the accused, the victims and witnesses.
Shergill said protecting children is an essential value in Canadian society and that courts must consider the psychological and emotional harm caused by sexual assault, not only the physical harm.
Among the aggravating factors, Shergill said the man "abused a position of high trust and authority by committing the sexual offences against his sisters."
Shergill said both victims described having good relationships with the man and looked to him for support and protection before the abuse.
"He committed the offences when he was tasked with looking after them while their mother was away," Shergill said. "He breached his duty to protect and care for them. The girls were vulnerable due to their young age."
Mitigating factors included the man's Indigenous background, his detachment from his Métis identity and his lack of a prior criminal record. A pre-sentence report said he experienced family instability, poverty, exposure to substance abuse and domestic conflict while growing up.
Shergill also ordered the man to provide a DNA sample for the national database and placed him on the national sex offender registry for 20 years. He is also prohibited from possessing firearms or explosives for 10 years after his release from prison.
The man testified at trial, denying the allegations and claiming he had difficulty remembering events between 2019 and 2022 because of lingering effects from a traumatic brain injury he suffered while working outdoors as a teenager. Shergill expressed significant concerns about what she described as the man's contradictory and self-serving testimony.
