A 21-year-old Bay St. George man’s aboriginal status was taken into account when a Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador judge sentenced him to 30 months in jail for having sex with a 13-year-old.
The man, who is not being identified due to a court imposed publication ban, was convicted of sexual interference by Justice Robert Stack in court in Corner Brook in June 2017. Stack’s sentencing decision was released on Tuesday.
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In addition to the 30 months for sexual interference, the man was sentenced to 30 days each on three breaches of a recognizance. The first 30 days is to be served consecutive to his sexual interference sentence and the other two to be served concurrently.
The sexual interference occurred in 2015 when the girl was in Grade 7. She met the accused during a lunch break from school and they became friends on Facebook and communicated through Facebook Messenger. The man ceased communication with her because he found her too immature.
In the summer of 2015 the two were at a house drinking. The man was on probation at the time and left before the girl did.
When the girl left she didn’t want to go home because she had been drinking and was dropped off at the man’s house. It’s there where they had sex.
While the man previously placed blame on his victim, he did acknowledge that the crime was his fault during his sentencing hearing. He said he regrets what he did and that he does have remorse.
Information about his aboriginal heritage was included in his pre-sentence report and it was noted that he had experienced the negative consequences of a dysfunctional family dynamic as well as of societal attitudes towards his aboriginal status.
The man has been in custody for 218 days since his conviction on June 19 and was given credit for that at time and half for 327 days.
He has to register with the Sexual Offenders Information Registration Act for 20 years, provide a sample of his DNA, will be subject to a firearms prohibition for 10 years and must have no contact with the victim while incarcerated. He also has to pay a victim surcharge of $200.
