A judge asked Blake Loxton, sitting Thursday in the prisoner’s box of a Sarnia courtroom, to stand.
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A judge asked Blake Loxton, who was sitting Thursday in the prisoner’s box of a Sarnia courtroom, to stand.
Following a drawn-out process due, in part, to his brief disappearance, the 30-year-old competitive Sarnia boxer was finally going to learn his sentence for sexually interfering with a drunk teenage girl. The Crown had asked for three to four years in prison following Loxton’s conviction at trial while his lawyer had pushed for house arrest.
The River City Boxing Club member, wearing a gray dress shirt, showed little emotion as Superior Court Justice Kirk Munroe imposed a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence.
“I intend to give you a sentence that properly addresses the principles of denunciation and deterrence, but not so long as to cripple you,” he said. “You are a relatively young man with considerable incentive to improve yourself.”
Loxton previously pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault and sexual interference but was convicted in November following a trial. The court has heard Loxton bought alcohol for a teen and had her over to his apartment on a Saturday night a few years ago. The girl, who was blackout drunk, initially had no memory about what happened but was worried about something sexual had taken place.
Her memory was jolted following a police investigation that uncovered male DNA on her clothes.
Loxton had tested nothing sexual happened, but his story with police was inconsistent, the judge previously noted. The Crown, Munroe concluded, proved beyond a reasonable doubt Loxton sexually touched her and consent was not possible for two reasons: the girl was younger than 16, and she was extremely intoxicated.
“This, sir, is a serious offence,” Munroe said Thursday to Loxton.
The survivor, whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, told Loxton in her victim-impact statement from earlier this year that he stole a little girl’s innocence. Munroe referenced that quote Thursday during his decision.
“It is clear (she) continues to be seriously affected by the crimes,” he said.
The survivor sat quietly in a different room in the courthouse and watched the sentencing over Zoom.
Despite being convicted eight months ago, Loxton’s sentencing sputtered along. The former St. Patrick’s Catholic high school and Lambton College student missed appointments with the probation for his pre-sentence report, and then he was a no-show at one of his sentencing hearings, prompting a brief search until he was arrested and charged by Sarnia police.
Loxton has been in jail since his most recent arrest in late March.
Defense lawyer Ken Marley previously noted his client had no prior criminal record and suggested a two-year conditional sentence featuring house arrest and potentially GPS monitoring.
“The gravity of the crime is high and, in my view, the principles of denunciation and deterrence will not be satisfied short of a real jail sentence,” Munroe said.
Loxton has just shy of two years left to serve after getting pre-trial custody credit. The judge ordered him not to contact the survivor and her mother while in prison or on probation. A probation order will run for two years while Loxton is also on the Sex Offender Information Registration Act list for 20 years.
Despite the pair of convictions, the judge only sentenced him for sexual interference and stayed the sexual assault conviction.
Loxton will be back in court Friday to address his failing-to-attend-court charge.