A man with terminal cancer, who has already lived longer than expected, was given more than five years in prison when he was finally sentenced in Brantford’s Superior Court, four-and-a-half years after his arrest.
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The 57-year-old man, who can’t be named as it would identify his young victim, was found guilty, after trial, of sexual assault, sexual interference, making child pornography and possession of child pornography.
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“This case involves a serious breach of trust by an adult offender against a 13 to 14-year-old child,” said Justice Robert Nightingale as he sentenced the man, calling him a “sexual predator” who preyed upon his niece when he was living with family.
The judge found the man guilty last June, but there have been delays as he dealt with his health issues and tried to establish his Indigenous background.
Last year, the man showed up with an affidavit outlining the conditions he faced while incarcerated at Maplehurst and Hamilton Wentworth jails where he was triple-bunked in a small cell where inmates weren’t allowed out for days at a time. Court was told the man slept on the floor by a toilet and was frequently threatened by both offenders and correctional officers after the officers let others know about his sexual charges.
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“He was scared for his life,” said Nightingale.
He was treated for strep throat in the jail but, when it didn’t seem to get better, further medical treatment was declined, he said. Once released on bail, the man was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer.
Since then he’s had chemotherapy, radiation and surgery and, while the cancer is in remission, a letter to the court from his oncologist said the man has already “outlived his expected life expectancy and his prognosis is poor,” said Nightingale
The judge noted Ontario’s prison system could provide adequate medical attention.
Although the issue didn’t come up through most of the process, at sentencing, the man’s defense lawyer said his client thought he was Indigenous and wanted more time to try and establish his roots as a Metis or in the Six Nations community.
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He was granted some time but those involved in membership and genealogical research at Six Nations could find no records to help him.
While the man consistently denied any guilt in the crimes he was charged with, before trial he admitted that photos he had on his phone that showed explicit sexual activity with a young girl, including close-ups of parts of her anatomy, were of his 13 -year-old niece.
Those photos “made their way” to the computer of his son who uploaded them to a Facebook Messenger account, leading police to execute a search warrant on their home where thousands of pornographic images were found, including the man’s “huge” collection of child pornography .
The victim in the case found it too painful to write an impact statement but Nightingale said the traumatic effects of sexual abuse on under-age children are well-known.
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While the man has a fairly extensive criminal record, the judge found it mainly outdated and not relevant to his current convictions.
Now living in the Niagara area, the man has a supportive wife and was a contributing member of society before being charged. After his charges, he became a victim of vandalism and assault, but Nightingale said that didn’t reduce his sentence as it was part of “natural consequences.”
Nightingale gave the man a global sentence of six-and-a-half years and took off almost 14-and-a-half months for his hard time incarcerated, leaving more than five years to serve.
Should he live, the man will be on the sexual offenders registry for 20 years.
@EXPSGamble
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