Surrogate grandfather given four years for sex-related offences
A former Niagara woman on Friday virtually confronted the man she once revered as her grandfather but who repeatedly sexually abused her as a child.
The woman, now 20 and a resident of Alberta, appeared in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines via Zoom and asked the judge to adjust the camera so she could watch her abuser be led away by officers to begin serving a four-year sentence on two counts of sexual interference.
The victim told court the trauma she suffered at the hands of the trusted family friend has had a “big hand” in shaping who she is as a person.
“It’s like building a house, and later finding out that a lot of the wood you used as your foundation was rotten,” she said.
She told the judge she has decided not to have children because “how am I ever supposed to trust anyone around my children?”
“I refuse to live in a life filled with anxiety, causing me to be highly protective and likely ruining my own child’s life.”
The 61-year-old man cannot be in named in order to protect the identity of the victim.
Court was told the defendant was a family friend and surrogate grandfather to the victim.
The man she loved as a grandfather, however, sexually abused her for years, starting when she was six years old.
Niagara Regional Police were contacted after the victim, then 12, disclosed the abuse to her mother.
During the investigation, however, the victim was made to believe the accused would not survive in jail and would kill himself if arrested.
As a result, she felt guilty and stopped co-operating with police. The investigation was subsequently suspended.
In 2020, the victim, now an adult, contacted the RCMP and reported the abuse.
“She was at all times a young vulnerable child who was entitled to his protection, and instead he preyed upon her,” Judge Lynn Robinson said.
Court was told the offender accepts responsibility for abusing the victim and is open to counselling.
The man’s name will appear on the national sex offender registry for life.