WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may be triggering to some readers.
A Kaleden man will spend 90 days in jail and 10 years on the sex offender registry for masturbating multiple times in front of his teenage step-daughter after being sentenced Feb. 10.
The man, who will be referred to as Mr. X due to the publication ban in place to protect his victim’s identity, was reported to police by his step-daughter after multiple incidents.
The first major incident involved Mr. X standing in the doorway to his step-daughters room on her 16th birthday in 2021. Multiple other incidents followed.
One of the last incidents occurred in early 2022. While she was sitting in the living room with her mother, sister and Mr. X, her step-father pulled out his phone and showed his step-daughter a photo of his penis on it.
She turned to her mother and asked to go down the hall to do a puzzle. Mr. X then stood in the doorway, out of sight from his at-the-time wife, lowered his pants and began to masturbate.
The step-daughter called a friend for a ride, then informed her mother that she would be spending more time with her friend and at her grandparents and began to return home less frequently.
The victim was too overwhelmed to be at the court, however, a victim impact statement from her was read by the Crown. Her mother and grandmother were present and shared their own victim impact statements with the court.
“After tolerating his nude nighttime lurking in my doorway, and his disgusting acts in the window between my room and the kitchen, I took off,” the step-daughter’s victim impact statement read. “I knew I had to get myself out of the situation, so I spent the next few months lying to my own mom and grandma, missing out on family events, and even hiding in a closet to avoid family members trying to take me back to that hell.”
After returning home from a trip, the mother was informed by the grandparents of what was going on, and immediately packed up everything that belonged to her and her daughters and left the place she had shared with Mr. X for the previous five years.
“Despite her showing great strength in leaving the man she had loved and trusted with her sister and I for five years, who turned out to be a disgusting, repulsive monster, my mom was wrecked,” read the victim’s statement. “I had seen her cry for days and days on end.
“Aside from this, the most unbelievable fact of this entire ordeal is that [Mr. X] is now dating a new woman with a daughter my age who he could easily commit these acts on her, which is absolutely horrifying.”
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Prior to being charged and before the trial, Mr. X had gone out to seek counselling for his issues. The judge presiding over the case recognized this, along with the guilty plea from Mr. X, however she noted the aggravating factor of the breach of trust that Mr. X had as the victim’s step-father.
Defence for Mr. X sought to have his sentence served intermittently, allowing for him to keep up with his employment as a shop supervisor. The court was informed that the business was aware of the case and was keeping Mr. X employed, according to defence.
The judge denied the request for an intermittent sentence.
Defence also noted that when Mr. X was an infant, he was victimized by his babysitter, who themselves had been the victim of abuse when they were a child.
Mr. X has also since got into a new relationship, with his current partner also with a daughter younger than his victim. The court was told that she was also aware of the case, and had been informed prior to the relationship beginning.
The Ministry of Child Development had built a safety plan that was also submitted into the court records for Mr. X’s new home and living arrangements.
After the 90 days in jail are served, Mr. X will spend another two years on probation, which includes a mandatory DNA order as well as a requirement to undertake the forensic sex offender treatment program.
Crown informed the court that the sex offender treatment program currently has a backlog of registrants, which caused them to request for a longer probation.
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