Sarnia man facing up to 12 years in prison for underage sex convictions

A judge is contemplating how long to send a Sarnia-area man to prison after finding him guilty of sex charges linked to two underage girls.

During Trevor Duncan’s sentencing hearing Wednesday, his lawyer, Joseph Stoesser, suggested between six and seven years while the Crown countered with 10 to 12 years.

“The moral blameworthiness of Mr. Duncan is high,” Nila Mulpuru, Lambton’s acting Crown attorney, argued. “The impact on both complainants is clearly far-reaching and profound.”

Duncan, 40, initially was facing 17 charges linked to four underage female complainants for alleged incidents between 2010 and 2020 in Sarnia and Lambton County. Following a five-day trial in April, the LiUNA Local 1089 journeyman and South West Grounds Maintenance employee was acquitted of 13 of the charges.

But Duncan was found guilty in June by Superior Court Justice Russell Raikes of two counts each of sexual assault and sexual interference. Little can be reported from the trial or Raikes’s decision as the identities of the two complainants and two survivors are protected by a publication ban.

As the case continued Wednesday with a sentencing hearing, the parents of one of the survivors took turns telling the judge through emotionally charged victim-impact statements the toll that’s been taken on their daughter. The mother said her daughter lost her innocence along with what should have been positive first-time experiences.

“You have taken so much from this one little girl,” her mother said.

Her father, who said his relationship with his daughter was impacted by what happened, added his daughter also lost the ability to be young and carefree.

“She had it stolen from her,” he said.

Near the end, the mother turned her attention to Duncan.

“Now, it’s time for you to lose things,” she said.

Raikes adjourned the case to November, which is when he’ll decide for how long Duncan will lose his freedom.

Earlier this year, the judge found the testimony of one girl, who was around age five to seven at the time of an incident involving Duncan, to be honest, candid, clear, cogent and compelling.

Conversely, he found Duncan’s evidence about the same incident was not credible or reliable and didn’t raise a reasonable doubt.

“Simply put, I do not believe him,” Raikes wrote in his 21-page decision.

The judge found him guilty of sexual assault and sexual interference in that incident.

It was a similar situation with another girl, who was somewhere around age seven to nine at the time. Duncan again denied the incident, but the judge didn’t believe his version while finding the girl to be reliable and credible.

“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that she was sexually abused by the defendant in the manner she described,” he said.

Again, Raikes found Duncan guilty of sexual assault and sexual interference.

The case was adjourned to Wednesday to obtain a pre-sentence report and a Gladue report, a specialized document for Indigenous offenders.

Duncan initially was charged with five counts of sexual assault, five counts of sexual interference, two counts of making sexually explicit material available to a person younger than 16, two counts of providing sexual materials to a person younger than 16, and single counts of exposure , invitation to sexual touching, and communicating with an underage person for the purpose of facilitating the commission of child pornography.

He was found not guilty of seven charges linked to a third complainant, who was in high school at the time of the alleged offenses.

Raikes also found Duncan not guilty of four charges linked to a fourth complainant due, in part, to their testimony being inconsistent and at odds with Duncan and three other witnesses.

Duncan, who Stoesser said maintains his innocence on all charges, declined to speak Wednesday.

“Sir, he doesn’t wish to say anything,” his lawyer said to the judge.

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@ObserverTerry