James Tutcho sentenced to 7 years for sexual assaults
A former band councillor in Colville Lake, N.W.T., has been sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually assaulting three women over two decades, starting when they were young girls.
On February 12, 50 year-old James Tutcho was convicted of seven counts of sexual assault dating from 1995 to 2013.
Justice Shannon Smallwood delivered her sentence in a Yellowknife court room on April 1.
"What you have done, Mr. Tutcho, is forever change who these women are and who they might have been," Smallwood said.
During his sentencing hearing, James Tutcho wept as one of the victims, now in her 30s, read her victim impact statement.
She told Tutcho she forgave him but said the sexual abuse she suffered over decades turned her to alcohol at a young age. She said she grew up thinking abuse was normal and as a teenager looked for love and attention in the wrong places and has been in several abusive relationships.
She is one of the three women Tutcho is convicted of abusing while they were sleeping or passed out from alcohol.
When asked if he had anything to say, Tutcho apologized to the victims and said he wished he could turn back the clock. He said he committed all of the assaults while under the influence of alcohol.
The crown asked for eight years of jail time. Prosecutor Jenny Scott said there were many aggravating circumstances surrounding the assaults. She said Tutcho was in a position of power and trust and he has a lengthy criminal record, including one previous sexual assault conviction.
The defence asked that Tutcho receive a sentence of four to five years. His lawyer, Serge Petitpas, said Tutcho still has a family to care for and was himself a victim of sexual abuse as a child.
During her victim impact statement, one of the woman asked the judge to be lenient on Tutcho and for him to get help for his alcohol addiction.
In her sentence, Smallwood asked that Tutcho serve his sentence in a northern facility.
Tutcho is prohibited from using a firearm for 10 years after he is released. He is also prohibited from being around children, unless supervised, for the next 20 years.
This is Tutcho's second conviction for a sexual related offence. In 1994, he was sentenced to two months in jail and one year probation for sexual interference.
