Stepdad jailed for sexual assault on mentally disabled girl

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This article was published 07/11/2011 (4561 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 16-year-old mentally disabled Winnipeg girl who is unable to verbally communicate was forced to perform a sexual act on her stepfather the same day he married her mother.

The attack likely would have gone undetected were it not for another family member who caught the groom-to-be in the act.

The 51-year-old accused – who can’t be named to protect the identity of the vulnerable victim – was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault earlier this year.

“This was a very disturbing situation. The victim is a member of a segment of society that is deserving and commanding of the protection of the courts,” Queen’s Bench Justice Rick Saull said. “This was an extreme case of breach of trust. It was abuse against a helpless victim.”

Saull said he was tempted to give out an even longer sentence than the four years requested by the Crown, given the disturbing nature of the crime. The accused had asked for a three-and-a-half-year term.

“As far as mitigating factors… there’s not one iota,” Saull said.

The man has not accepted any responsibility for wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty at trial. He has a lengthy criminal record that spans nearly 30 years and involves several offences of domestic violence against other partners, court was told. He has also “repeatedly thumbed his nose” at the courts by breaching numerous orders, Saull said.

This marks his first sexual offence. Although there is no evidence of any other attacks on the victim, the man continues to downplay his actions and blames anything that happened on consuming too much alcohol. A court-ordered pre-sentence report paints the man as a “very high” risk to re-offend. Justice officials said he likely won’t benefit from sex-offender counselling because he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong.

Saull said it’s clear the man targeted the mute girl, believing he would get away with his crime because she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone what happened. She has the intellect of a child much younger than her age and only has a limited ability to communicate with sign language, court was told. She was not present in court and did not have to testify at the trial.

The man has been put on the national sex offender registry as a result of his conviction.

www.mikeoncrime.com