A Winnipeg Beach man convicted for the second time
of sexually assaulting one of his children has been
sentenced to two years in jail.
The 55-year-old man pleaded guilty to repeatedly
assaulting his daughter for a period of 15 months
beginning when she was 10 years old.
"A violation of this nature is usually
devastating and has life-long consequences for the
victim," Justice Colleen Suche told the man, who
cannot be named to protect the identity of his
victim.
In 1980, the man was convicted of indecently
assaulting his eight-year-old stepson. Court did not
hear what sentence the man received.
In the most recent case, the man repeatedly
fondled his daughter as they lay in bed together.
Court heard the man, who suffers from multiple
sclerosis, would routinely complain about his "sore
back" before slipping into his daughter's bed.
"He used his medical condition as a means and an
opportunity to take advantage of his daughter," said
Crown attorney Cindy Sholdice, who urged Suche to
sentence the man to at least four years in prison.
The assaults only stopped when the girl reported
them to an adult and police were called in the fall
of 2003.
At one point following his arrest, the man blamed
his actions on his MS medication
"I've lost my faith in doctors and medication,"
he said in an address to court.
"I can't imagine what my children must think of
me."
Sholdice said the man has made no effort to seek
medical treatment or rehabilitate himself in the
four years since his arrest.
"It appears that all he has done is sat at home
smoking marijuana feeling sorry for himself," she
said.