Nanaimo father convicted of sex crimes against his young daughter, assessment to determine mental fitness

Justice Groves concluded the man’s partner viewed a short video on the offender’s phone of him masturbating and rubbing his penis against his daughter’s vagina in their living room.

She testified while she couldn’t see their faces, she was certain who they were in the video.

“She then testified that [the offender] apologized, said he was sorry for ruining her life, said he was sorry for ruining their daughter’s life, she described he was crying, she described him as someone seemingly having a mental breakdown,” Justice Groves stated.

The video could not be retrieved from the phone by investigators, with the offender denying he deleted it. A thumbnail image was recovered, which was consistent with what the mother described.

“I find her to be a believable witness with no axe to grind.”

The offender was arrested later the same evening in September 2020.

Four days later he made a voluntary confession at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment against the wishes of his lawyer. The statement was accepted by Justice Groves as admissible evidence.

He appeared anxious to speak about what happened.

“I can’t even say, I feel sick even thinking about it and I didn’t even remember,” [the offender] said during the confession.

He become more direct with the investigator, explaining what happened after he removed a diaper as they were in the living room hours prior to him being confronted by her partner.

“I rubbed the head of my penis against her vagina, I don’t know why I did it.”

It was a complete reversal two-and-a-half years later where he made a flat denial, stating he didn’t recall anything.

Justice Groves found the testimony of the accused was not credible.

“Why would this level of desire to talk to the police that he repeated in his statement, he would then lie to the police, admit his guilt and now recant, is not simply overly confusing and not believable.”

While the man was found not guilty of producing child porn, several child porn images were found on his phone which he was convicted of.

His lawyer Ben Lynskey argued his client was under a lot of pressure and originally made a false confession to police.

Lynskey successfully argued for a mental assessment to be conducted to help determine if his client is not criminally responsible for his actions due to mental disorder.

Evidence at trial referenced numerous sleep-walking episodes by the offender and his sexual habits.

A lack of memory of his offending and why he acted the way he did requires further examination, Lynskey said.

His application was opposed by the Crown, but accepted by Justice Groves.

“This is something that is worthy of investigation and I’m going to order the assessment sought.”

The offender was often slumped over with his head forward near his lap for extended segments of the trial and during Friday’s judgment.

Results of the mental assessment will guide the sentencing process in the months ahead.

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On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Nanaimo father convicted of sex crimes against his young daughter, assessment to determine mental fitness

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