Former Wabano Centre healer gets 3 years in prison for sexual assault
WARNING: This article contains details of abuse.
A former traditional healer at Ottawa's Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health was sentenced to three years in prison for three counts of sexual assault in an Ottawa courtroom Monday, with the judge describing how he egregiously abused the trust his victims placed in him.
Ralph King had been found guilty in November after three women testified he inappropriately touched them during healing sessions at the centre in 2021.
King, 61, is an Ojibway-Anishinaabeg healer from Moose Deer Point First Nation. He was charged in March 2022 after offering healing sessions at the Wabano Centre between November 2020 and March 2021.
King remained emotionless throughout Monday's hearing as Justice Faith Finnestad read victim impact statements from the three women before sentencing him to 12 months imprisonment for each victim, to be served consecutively, given the seriousness of the crimes.
Each charge carried a maximum penalty of 18 months in jail.
The women hugged and shed tears with family members and Crown prosecutors outside the courtroom afterward.
"We're glad this is done and healing can begin now," one of the victims told CBC, speaking on behalf of the three women.
The sentence represented some measure of closure and accountability, another woman said, expressing surprise that King had been jailed.
CBC News is unable to name the victims due to a publication ban.
Some forgiveness
The victim impact statements described how King violated the trust placed in him and misused his gift for traditional healing, resulting in lasting harm.
"Mr. King has deprived his community of the help he could have given," Finnestad read.
Two of the women had already been victims of childhood sexual abuse, the judge said.
All three had expressed their desire that that King never be allowed to carry out traditional healing ceremonies with women in the future.
One of his Indigenous victims described how the abuse made her doubt her ability to know where, when and with whom she is safe.
Justice Finnestad described the second victim's victim statement as "an anguished cry" in which the woman wrote about how given King's status as a healer, she had mistrusted her own feelings of discomfort at the inappropriate touching during the healing session.
"She criticized herself for allowing this to happen to her," Justice Finnestad said.
Despite this, she ended her statement by wishing King well.
A third victim told King he had failed her and abused his power.
"You chose to use your gifts to hurt people in the lower states of life and tried to make them out to be liars," the victim wrote in her statement.
"I do forgive you but don't get that mixed up and fail again."
Gladue report considered
Finnestad read from a Gladue report prepared ahead of sentencing that considered King's Indigeneity but said ultimately it did not mitigate his sentence.
The report described "a history of intergenerational trauma and substance abuse and its effects on King."
The report described how King's mother had been punished at school for speaking Ojibway. King described being poor as a child, being bullied at school and suffering from learning difficulties.
King remembered hiding in the bush with his siblings when his father became violent while drunk and reported being sexually abused by babysitters. He began drinking himself at age 12 and reported being addicted by age 15.
Later in life, the report said King had quit drinking in a bid to become a good father, had become a hunter and important member of his community and had performed tens of thousands of healing ceremonies.
He also experienced anxiety, depression and PTSD, partly as a result of his childhood but also from his work as a firefighter.
His wife wrote a letter describing him as a good husband and caring man and describing the hardship a custodial sentence would have on the family.
Finnestad said that the contents of the report would not mitigate King's sentence, noting how the offending was exacerbated by the breach of trust of his position.
"A safe and culturally appropriate space for healing has been violated," she said.
In addition to the prison time, King's name and DNA will be added to the sex offender registry. He is also prohibited from owning weapons for 10 years.
King was remanded in custody.
For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
