Nova Scotia man gets 6 years in prison for sex assaults on daughter
A Nova Scotia man has been sentenced to six years in prison for a series of sexual assaults on his own daughter, beginning when she was only six years old.
To protect the girl's identity, the man is identified in the court decision, released Tuesday, by the initials R.M.
The abuse began in 2004 and lasted eight years.
In the first incident, R.M invited his daughter to squeeze his penis. The assaults then progressed and escalated, Justice Robert Wright noted in his decision,
"The norms of societal behaviour make the perpetration of these offences almost incomprehensible. Yet they happen all too often," he said.
"Fathers are meant to be a protector of their children, not a predator for self-gratification."
A psychiatric assessment done prior to his sentencing found that R.M. has a life-long alcohol problem.
'Much too little, too late'
In her assessment of the man, Dr. Angela Connors said his alcoholism "has interfered with his employment, his marriage, his availability to his children, his judgment, and his freedoms as it pertains to the sanctions of the court."
The judge noted R.M. also has prior convictions for domestic assault, breaches of court orders and impaired driving.
Justice Wright also found R.M. did not accept responsibility for his crimes until his daughter read her victim impact statement.
In her trial testimony, the girl said "He raised me to be molested."
Once his daughter, who is now a teenager, read her statement, Justice Wright said R.M. "became overcome with emotion in trying to verbalize an apology to his daughter which was much too little, too late."
In addition to the six-year prison sentence, R.M. must give a DNA sample and his name will be on the national sex offender registry for the rest of his life. He is also forbidden to have weapons or be around children for 10 years following his sentence.
