The relationship between children and their father is one of the most sacred there is, a Sarnia judge said.
Editor’s note: This article mentions and discusses child sexual assault
The relationship between children and their father is one of the most sacred there is, a Sarnia judge said.
“You betrayed that trust in the most egregious manner by sexually assaulting and abusing them,” Justice Krista Lynn Leszczynski said to a Sarnia-Lambton father as she sentenced him to five years in prison.
The man, who can’t be identified as it would also identify the victims pleaded guilty this past fall to multiple charges linked to child pornography and touching a person younger than 16 for a sexual purpose.
He was sentenced this past Friday to a half-decade behind bars.
The court heard he took inappropriate photos of himself engaging in sex acts with his children – a newborn infant and a toddler – and sent them to men in Chatham-Kent and London during the fall of 2020. A wife of one of the recipients discovered the images while going through her husband’s phone and called police.
Leszczynski said the children were so young they couldn’t protect themselves, ask for help or tell someone what happened.
“They were powerless against you,” she said.
The judge added there was a “significant” risk of future harm.
“Especially with respect to the fact that you made electronic images of the offenses and distributed them to others,” she said. “A fact that they will likely become aware of at some point in the future and will struggle with undoubtedly wondering who may have seen them and when they might resurface.”
According to a pre-sentence report, the man said the children were too young to remember what happened, although he later denied saying this. Still, defense lawyer David Stoesser said that’s “just the wrong thinking” while assistant Crown attorney Nila Mulpuru said it was “simply unacceptable.”
“We know that is not true,” Mulpuru said.
Leszczynski said that claim was “concerning.” as was his denial of being sexually attracted to children. The man only admitted to an undiagnosed sex addiction.
Meanwhile, the children’s mother and his former common-law partner wrote a statement on how the ordeal affected her. More than one year later. she was still suffering emotionally, mentally and physically, she said.
“The impact on her is clearly far-reaching and profound,” Mulpuru said. “The court can reasonably infer that the impact on her children is inevitable.”
The man offered a brief apology over Zoom from the Sarnia Jail.
“I’m very sorry for what I did,” he said while wearing standard-issue orange clothes and a blue mask. “I’m remorseful for what I did and everything else.”
He added he doesn’t “ever” plan to do it again.
“I can faithfully say that. You guys might not look at it that way, but I look at it that way because I’ve learned from my mistakes,” he said.
The man, who had an unrelated prior criminal record, can’t contact the victims or their mother while he’s in prison and will be on the Sex Offender Information Registration Act list for the rest of his life.
After he’s released, the man can’t be within two kilometers of where his children live or go to a long list of public places, including parks, daycares, schools and swimming pools. He also can’t be in a position of trust or authority or have contact with children under age 16.
Additionally, he’s banned from using the internet. The man has three years and roughly three months left to serve after his pre-sentence custody credit.
Other charges were withdrawn.