A Brantford judge ripped into a man convicted of luring a child and sexual interference recently, telling him his opinion of himself was delusional.
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“You’re a predator,” Justice Colette Good told as she sentenced him to prison.
Court heard Stewart, now 28, contacted girls, who were 12 to 16, through social media and tried to lure them to his home for sex.
He was successful in one case, spending a weekend with a 15-year-old, plying her with drugs and alcohol and repeatedly having unprotected sex with her.
At one point, Stewart or his victim sent a video of a sexual interaction with another underage girl.
Stewart tried to coax the others to his apartment with money or asked for nude photos but they blocked him from sending further messages.
In psychiatric reports prepared before Stewart was to be sentenced, assessors noted that he seemed to blame the girl, saying she was a “troubled child looking for attention” and had intentionally lured him into having sex with her.
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“You are 100 per cent to blame for this,” objected Good.
“She’s a child. She’s off limits. She can’t consent because of her age. Everything you say today indicates you don’t get it. You have no insight into the harmful nature of your conduct.
“You exposed her to STIs, pregnancy and an overdose so you could have your way with her and went on to try and recruit her young friends, including a 12-year-old, as if they’re sex trade workers.”
Good read from one report saying Stewart found the girl who arrived at his apartment was drunk so he gave her cocaine to “sober her up.”
“Cocaine doesn’t sober you up,” said the judge. “You estimated you and (the teen) consumed four grams of cocaine and she had one half of a 26-ounce bottle of liquor and four bars of Xanax. Cocaine can kill a person and you don’t even seem to care.”
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Weeping, Stewart offered his “sincerest apologies to the victims” and their families, saying he wasn’t in his right mind at the time of the incidents, almost two years ago.
“But it’s no excuse. I do take full responsibility and all I can do now is to shoulder the crushing disappointment of my family and my peers here in the crowd. I’m grateful for their support.”
Stewart’s defense lawyer said his client was on a multi-week bender at the time of the incidents and his memories were “not really sharp” about what happened.
“I’m not here to little his conduct,” said Jesse Dostal, “He caused a lot of harm but he takes responsibility and understands the impact his actions have had.”
Stewart was originally charged with four counts of luring, among other charges, but pleaded guilty and was convicted on one count of luring and one count of sexual interference.
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Assistant Crown attorney, Anthony Minelli, told the judge Stewart’s guilty pleas kept the young girls from testing in court, which relieved them.
“There was some digital evidence,” said Minelli, “but it happened over Snapchat, which is purposely designed to not create a record of communications.”
That could have been a problem at trial, and it wasn’t an overwhelming case against Stewart, plus he agreed to participate in a risk assessment, which helped reduce the sentence the Crown could have pursued.
“But the risk assessment says he’s at high risk for re-offending for sexual offenses specifically, and violent offenses in general.”
Minelli asked that Stewart be placed on the sexual offenders registry for the rest of his life and the judge agreed.
Good sentenced Stewart to five years in prison, but gave him a required almost 18 months time-served credit for a difficult incarceration as he awaited trial.
For 10 years, Stewart is ordered to stay away from the victims, along with parks, swimming areas, daycares and playgrounds. Stewart can have no communication with anyone under 16 unless he’s supervised by a parent aware of his beliefs and can’t use the internet unless supervised by an adult.
@EXPSGamble
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