Teen pleads guilty to molesting girlfriend’s sister

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/11/2017 (2901 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A young girl who was molested by her sister’s boyfriend during a sleepover told the court on Thursday how his actions 15 months ago have drastically altered her life.

“My heart is destroyed into a million pieces,” the girl said. “I’m scared of things that no kids should be scared of. I’m scared of being on my own.”

The teen, who was a youth at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty to sexual touching in Brandon provincial court.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, despite now being 18 years old, he cannot be identified.

The girl, who was 10 years old at the time, went to have a sleepover at her sister’s house, where here sister lived with her boyfriend, according to the Crown.

She fell asleep on the couch, and was woken up by her sister’s boyfriend touching her back.

He then slid his hand down her pants and started touching her vagina over her underwear.

“The behaviour he demonstrated that day was horrendous behaviour,” Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter said. “The victim has had consequences that she’s had to deal with … it has been an ongoing issue for her and her family. She’s had quite the harm done to her.”

The girl’s mother also explained to the court about the impact the incident has had on her family. Her daughter is afraid to be alone and wakes up during the night due to nightmares, she said, and she’s scared of what happened and that it will happen again.

The girl has also severed her relationship with her older sister and has no desire to reconnect.

“This crime has broken her … my little girl is not the same person that she was before this crime happened,” the mother said. “I have a lot of anger … Not only has her innocence been taken away, but she lives in fear every day.”

Tschetter gave the teen credit for accepting responsibility by pleading guilty, despite the fact he maintained, even on the stand, that he doesn’t remember the incident.

“I know that he had his head down when the complainant and her mother were speaking, and I think that — hopefully — it was for the right reason, which I think it was,” said defence lawyer Bob Harrison. “He understands the impact his actions had on this young person.”

The teen also has no prior record, Harrison said.

“This was a serious sexual violation. He took advantage of a sleeping victim who was in the care of his girlfriend at the time,” said Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta. “It’s clear to me this incident had a terrible impact on (the victim) and her family. It’s clear to me (the victim) continues to struggle with what happened to her — something that was totally not her fault and that she couldn’t have done anything to avoid.”

The teen was sentenced to two years probation — due to being a youth at the time of the offence, his acceptance of responsibility and his lack of a prior record, Hewitt-Michta said.

He is required to attend counselling, including sexual assault counselling, and is prohibited from being unsupervised around children for five years.

“You did a terrible thing to a little girl who was completely vulnerable and defenceless and you should be ashamed of yourself,” Hewitt-Michta told the teen. “I’m putting you on probation for two years because I want you to get some help. I know you have some issues in your own life and some things that have happened to you over the years … but you need to get some help so that you make sure you never do this to another person again. You’re an adult now … if you come back in front of me for doing this sort of thing again, expect to go to jail for a long time.”

» edebooy@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @erindebooy