R. v. B.L., 2023 MBPC 20, MARCH 8, 2024.
FACTS: The accused pleaded guilty to the offence of sexual assault. The accused was seventy-three years of age and the victim sixteen years of age. The accused did not have a criminal record. The circumstances were described as follows (at paragraphs 2 and 3):
The sixteen-year-old victim met the seventy-one-year-old accused through her employment in a restaurant owned by the accused’s common-law wife. A personal relationship between the victim and the couple blossomed. B.L. reminded her of a beloved, deceased grandfather. They bonded over shared interests, including horses.
On April 16, 2021, the accused drove the victim to his home which was approximately forty kilometers from the victim’s home community. They planned to go horseback riding, but he invited her into the home saying he had forgotten his saddle. They sat on a couch and were watching television when, in the context of “play-fighting”, he grabbed her breasts with both hands. The victim disclosed the sexual assault to a family friend and her mother that evening.
HELD: Judge Hewitt-Michta imposed a period of nine months of incarceration. She indicated that a “period of incarceration is required to give effect to the principles of deterrence and denunciation, to reflect the aggravating factors, and to underline the seriousness of the offence and the accused’s high degree of responsibility” (at paragraph 29). Judge Hewitt-Michta concluded that the “[i]mposition of a ninety-day intermittent sentence or a lengthy conditional sentence order would be inconsistent with the fundamental principles and objectives of sentencing given the circumstances of this offence. Conditional sentence orders can achieve objectives of deterrence and denunciation in appropriate cases and B.L.’s risk can likely be managed in the community. However, a significant period of actual incarceration is required in the circumstances of this case to adequately communicate to this accused and others the wrongfulness and harmfulness of the offence; to denounce the sexual victimization of young adolescent females by those in positions of trust; and to protect children and adolescents from sexual abuse at the hands of adults” (at paragraph 31).
