Court of Appeals more than doubles two-year sentence for incest and child pornography

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A man who sexually assaulted his younger half-sister for years, starting when she was seven, had his sentence doubled to five years after the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court’s two-year sentence was “demonstrably inadequate.”

The man, whose identity is called GJM in the ruling to protect the identity of the victim, who was called DT, was sentenced to two years less a day plus three years of probation by a BC Supreme Court judge, according to the Appeals Court ruling released Thursday.

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He pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual interference and one count of possession of child pornography for the crimes that spanned six and a half years, until DT was 13, according to the decision.

The Crown, which had asked for an eight-year prison sentence during sentencing, on appeal asked for a five-year sentence for the sexual interference and a consecutive six-month sentence for the child pornography charge for the video recording of the abuse by part of GJM, according to the ruling. saying.

“I agree with the Crown that the judge erred in principle and imposed a demonstrably inadequate sentence,” Justice Gail Dickson wrote on behalf of Justice Anne MacKenzie and Justice Patrice Abrioux, who agreed with the ruling.

Dickson imposed a four-and-a-half-year sentence for the sexual interference charges and a consecutive six-month sentence for the pornography conviction.

Dickson noted that in 2020 the Supreme Court of Canada “sent a clear message: Sentencing judges must do more than simply state that sexual crimes against children are serious, they must impose sentences” to support the seriousness of the crime.

He said that mandate “responds to society’s deeper understanding of the far-reaching harm caused by sexual violence to children” and that the harm they suffer is at the “center of the discussion.”

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GJM is 11 years older than DT and began abusing her when she was 18, with the abuse occurring at least twice a month at first, less frequently later, DT said.

She reported him to her family and police in 2020 and GJM admitted to the abuse in a statement to police, “although he minimized its degree and duration,” the ruling said.

The lower court judge said that, based on a psychologist’s report, she would consider that GJM’s moral culpability is reduced by the sexual abuse and neglect he experienced as a child in the Philippines, where he lived with relatives when his mother immigrated to Canada. without him, since age. from eight to 13. And she said another factor was his “long-term, untreated depression.”

He also noted that GJM, who is not a Canadian citizen, would likely be deported to the Philippines, which would negatively affect his future, and lost his relationships with his relatives and his girlfriend, who left him after the abuse became known.

But he also said that the aggravating factors of the sentence were that he was related to DT, that he was in a position of trust, that DT was significantly affected, as well as the duration, frequency and place (the family home) of the crimes.

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But the Supreme Court judge relied on mitigating circumstances: GJM was young, had no prior record, pleaded guilty and therefore prevented DT from testifying, cooperated with the investigation, complied with bail conditions, did not reoffend and showed regret. and fully accepted responsibility for the abuse.

He recognized that the coach would be marked for life. His “remorse and self-hatred led to a near-fatal suicide attempt,” the lower court judge noted.

But he also noted that because he was neither a father nor a grandfather, he was at the “lower end” of the spectrum of trusting relationships.

It found that GJM’s “moral culpability” was “partly diminished” by his difficult childhood and depression.

The lower court judge called the Crown’s suggestion of an eight-year sentence “unduly harsh.” The defense had requested a two-year suspended sentence order, or house arrest, plus probation.

Dickson wrote that the judge made “several errors in principle,” including finding that GJM’s moral culpability was diminished by his long-term depression, his location at the lower end of the confidence spectrum and how the sentence would disrupt his family. .

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