'Correction system failed him and society': Judge sentences Sask. man for sexually touching his step-grandchild

A Provincial Court of Saskatchewan judge has sentenced a man to four years in prison for sexual touching of his step-grandchild.

The man and the child cannot be identified as per the Criminal Code.

According to court documents, he was about 60 years old at the time and the child was around 6 years old.

The man was married to the child’s grandparent and the incidents are said to have happened in 2018.

Court records show the child claimed it had occurred about 10 times.

He was drunk at the time he was arrested, the court documents state. At first, he denied the allegations and later admitted to them.

“Maybe I have sick mind and need help,” he said according to the court record. He blamed his behaviour on alcohol.

Judge F.M. Daunt said the man would be sentenced only for the couple of times he admitted to, not the 10 times claimed by the child.

"The allegation that it happened “about ten times” is an aggravating fact that would have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt unless the accused admits it,” Judge Daunt wrote. “The Crown did not call evidence to prove these incidents, and so the Court is bound by his admission to committing one or two acts.”

Court records claim the man was convicted of sexually assaulting his daughter in 2007. He was sentenced to 30 months in a federal penitentiary. That sentence was increased to 36 months after the appeal.

He also had a record of abuse against other women in his life, including assaulting his wife with a weapon, the court record stated.

Judge Daunt said that the man, “has done little or nothing to address his risk factors over the years. He is in the “contemplation” stage of change. His actions reveal an underlying attitude that women and children are his property to do with as he will.”

According to Judge Daunt’s sentencing, the man “appears to have been offered no sex offender treatment or domestic violence counselling while serving his penitentiary sentence for sexually assaulting his daughter. He says he received programming only for alcohol addiction. If true, the correctional system failed him and society. He has now sexually assaulted a more vulnerable victim.”

Judge Daunt sentenced the man to four years in a penitentiary and ruled that he receive sex offender and domestic violence programming. He was given credit for time served and will be serving three more years.

The man has also been registered on the Sex Offender Information Registration Act.