SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. - A 67-year-old Summerside area man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for sexually touching his granddaughter.
The incident happened while the two were visiting an Island farm in May 2017.
Around midday, she was standing on a fence rail as the grandfather was handing her grass to feed the horses. The grandfather briefly touched her between her legs, over her clothes.
“The victim froze, didn’t say anything and the accused discontinued the activity,” said Crown attorney David O’Brien in Summerside court on Jan. 16.
Later that afternoon at his house, the grandfather told her not to tell anyone what had happened “or they’ll come and take me.”
The girl’s mother picked her up that evening and noticed her daughter’s behaviour was “clingy and very quiet.”
Around 1:30 a.m., the victim came into her mother’s room crying and told her mother what happened.
Initially, the man denied his actions to police. When questioned under polygraph, he confessed to what he’d done. He also told police he’d been sexually abused himself as a child.
“The victim has well documented in her victim impact statemen,t and a reminder to us all, of the lasting effect these offences have on child victims of sexual assault," said O'Brien. "Sleeplessness, nervousness, and anxiety were some of the symptoms that she displayed and commented on in her report.
“She also expressed her disappointment in her grandfather and his actions towards her.”
The man pleaded guilty and was given the mandatory minimum sentence of 90 days, which will be served intermittently because he is experiencing serious health problems.
He will be on probation for 36 months, must submit a DNA sample to the national database, is prohibited from owning weapons, will be on the sex offender registry for 10 years and must not be near his granddaughter or any children for three years.
