A 73-year-old man was sentenced on May 28 to 18 months in jail for touching his step-granddaughter for a sexual purpose, beginning when she was 10 years old.
Provincial Court Judge Charles Hutchinson also ordered the man to serve 18 months on probation, banned him from possessing weapons for life and added him to the national sexual offender registry for 20 years.
Information that could identify the victim is banned from publication.
Hutchinson agreed with the Crown sentencing proposal, rather than the man’s defence lawyer, who asked for a 12-month incarceration and two years probation, and suggested he be referred to forensic psychiatric services.
Between August 2021 and September 2024, the man committed the crimes against the girl, who stayed at his house monthly.
They would sleep in the same bedroom at night, in the same bed. On more than one occasion, he caused his genitals to touch her. The girl eventually told her stepmother that she did not want to visit anymore.
The man was charged in May 2025, arrested the next month and released on an undertaking. He did not have a criminal record, but pleaded guilty early. Hutchinson considered that a mitigating circumstance. A psychological risk assessment found him to be a very low risk to reoffend.
However, the aggravating factors outweighed mitigating. The victim was vulnerable and lived with a learning disability and the man was in a position of trust, in the role of a grandfather, even if not biologically related.
“While the effect of an early plea and expression of remorse are not ignored, the repeated violation of the personal autonomy of a young, vulnerable female by a trusted male role model in her life warrants a sentence of incarceration,” Hutchinson said.
A statement from the girl read in court said she will never be able to trust men again.
She said “grandpa” would favour her over the other grandchildren, buying her gifts and candy and taking her to shop alone. He would call her at school repeatedly and become angry if she did not answer her phone. She described feeling confused, because “he could get angry so easily, but also acted so lovingly.”
“The harm can never be undone, but my hope is to speak up on behalf of other victims and for myself, so this doesn't happen anymore,” said her statement.
When Hutchinson gave the man a chance to speak in court, he said he was “extremely sorry that this had to happen.”
“I must deeply apologize for my lack of control and for my harm to the child and family, and my failure to live up to what a grandparent should actually do,” he said.
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