Sentencing of a man convicted last June in Prince George of sexually assaulting his siblings was adjourned Jan. 28 for analysis of how his Indigenous heritage influenced his crimes.
Crown prosecutor Blake Bouchard proposed an eight-year sentence to BC Supreme Court Justice Palbinder Kaur Shergill. The man’s lawyer, Keith Jones, said his client should serve two years less a day, plus three years’ probation.
The case is under a publication ban that protects the identities of the victims.
Shergill found the man guilty of sexual assault against one victim and guilty of sexual assault and sexual interference of a person under 16 against the other.
Bouchard argued that the man, who had no prior criminal record, was both predatory and deliberate, choosing to prey on his victims “purely for his own self-centred and depraved reasons.”
The man abused his position of trust and authority in the family home, where the victims “ought to have been safe and secure.” One of the victims has a developmental disability, and both are Indigenous.
“These are statutorily aggravating factors, and put the objectives of denunciation and deterrence at the forefront,” Bouchard told Shergill.
A pre-sentencing report found the man continues to deny the offence and blame his conviction on others. But Jones said his client has taken steps toward rehabilitation.
“One of his principal ambitions is to be a father,” Jones said. “There's a little baby in the background. He has a lot of family support; you see them here behind him (in the courtroom).”
Jones said the man, who is Metis, is a candidate for a Gladue Report.
Bouchard said he was unaware of the man’s background prior to the pre-sentencing report but did not oppose the commissioning of a Gladue Report.
Shergill agreed to adjourn the case until April 20.
A Gladue Report, according to the BC Human Rights Commission, “is a pre-sentencing report that makes recommendations to a judge about what an appropriate sentence might be for an Indigenous person convicted of a crime.”
Such a report can be prepared for anyone who self-identifies as Indigenous. The report considers “unique systemic or background factors that may have played a part in the Indigenous person being charged with a criminal offence.”
