This Nanaimo man who can't be legally identified to protect the identity of his daughter, had his application to be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness denied by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024 in Nanaimo. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

disturbing crime

Nanaimo father deemed mentally fit to be sentenced for sex crimes against infant daughter

Oct 8, 2024 | 4:29 PM

Editor’s note: This story contains extremely disturbing details regarding child sexual abuse and may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is strongly advised.

NANAIMO — A local man will be sentenced later this year for sexually assaulting his young daughter, after trying to convince the court he had no memory of what happened due to a sleeping disorder.

The man, whose name is covered under a sweeping publication ban to protect the identity of the victim, was convicted of three sex crimes in April of 2023 following a 10-day trial that January, following an incident in a Nanaimo home in Sept. 2020 involving a then 19-month-old girl.

The lawyer for the man unsuccessfully argued his client should be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness, which was contested by the Crown.

Court heard the man’s spouse found a video on the offender’s phone of him masturbating and rubbing his penis against their daughter’s vagina in their living room.

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B.C. Supreme Court Justice Groves stated on Thursday, Oct. 3 that while the video was unable to be extracted for evidence, a thumbnail photo was recovered and submitted, clearly showing “sexualized activity and sexual touching.”

“What that picture depicted was an erect penis and a set of buttocks on a pink blanket. (His spouse) opined that the penis was that of her husband, the buttocks was that of their daughter, and that pink blanket was a blanket of which (their daughter) regularly laid on at home.”

During trial, the man testified he doesn’t remember the confession he gave to police shortly after he was arrested, and said he suffers from a form of sleeping disorder which caused him to sleepwalk and engage in activities without his awareness.

Justice Groves said the initial confession “was a full admission of at least the actus reus (guilty act) of the offence of sexual assault, and the offence of sexual touching,” but was a denial of making child pornography.

“The statement given (to police) was detailed. It was consistent with the facts then known and the facts before the court, from other witnesses, and contained sufficient additional detail, that was descriptive of events which did not appear to be recorded on the video that (spouse) testified to, on one occasion observing on his phone.”

In the confession, the man said he was on a separate couch from his daughter in their living room when he heard the sound of her hitting the floor after she rolled off the couch.

He then attended to her and noticed she had a wet diaper.

It was during the process of changing her diaper when the sexual assault occurred.

“In this statement, (suspect’s name) added the detail of turning the light on his cell phone to provide sufficient light in the middle of the night to assist him in changing his daughter’s diaper,” said justice Groves. “And in the statement, there seemed to be an explanation that perhaps, it accidentally recorded the assault by pressing the record on his phone, rather than just activating the light.”

A doctor’s expert testimony during trial said the man did have chronic insomnia and certain sleep paralysis issues, while he may also have a condition known as ‘sexsomnia’, described as someone engaging in sexual activity while asleep without their awareness.

He testified the offender’s previous behaviour, as detailed by his spouse, was consistent with this diagnosis, as she reported him occasionally sleepwalking and engaging in activities such as masturbation or cooking.

When woken from these activities, the spouse said the man would be shocked and unaware of what he was doing.

Justice Groves said the fact the man was able to provide additional details which would only be known to him during his initial, videotaped confession, led him to the conclusion the man was not sleepwalking at the time of the offence.

“Though he testified at trial of having no memory of the alleged incident, I found that at the time of the incident or shortly thereafter, based on what he said in his statement, he had a memory of what happened, and he provided it in detail. He provided history. He provided context. He provided explanations.”

The doctor said the man also likely suffered from low to chronic depression and had features and mannerisms similar to someone on the autism spectrum, but it wasn’t a confirmed diagnosis.

Judge Groves said the man’s behaviours while on the stand during trial was notable, saying he kept his head down avoided eye contact, and spoke in a low, hesitant voice.

A pre-sentencing report was ordered for the unidentified man.

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