B.C. senior sentenced to 7.5 years for sex crimes against granddaughters

The lobby of B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver is seen in a CTV News file image.

Warning: This story contains disturbing details.

A B.C. senior has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for historic sexual offences against three of his granddaughters – crimes that had long-lasting effects on his victims, and ultimately fractured many of their relationships with their extended family.

The 79-year-old's sentence was handed down last month in B.C. Supreme Court, with Justice Paul Walker thanking the victims for their bravery in coming forward.

"I hope you can move on from this," Walker said at the end of his reasons. "I know from what you told me that it is difficult, but I hope that in due course you'll be able to put this proceeding behind you and carry on with your lives."

The grandfather – who can't be named to protect the identities of his victims – was convicted last August on four counts of invitation to sexual touching and one count of bestiality.

Each of the offences took place while his granddaughters, who are now 20, 24 and 26, were visiting his mobile home as unaccompanied children.

The court heard he masturbated in front of two of the sisters, separately, and showed one of them pornography. The bestiality charge stemmed from an incident in which he coaxed a dog to lick margarine off the third sister's genitals. She was in Grade 5 at the time.

Walker noted that before the abuse, the victims' parents and grandparents "enjoyed a close family relationship," spending time together at meals, events, recreational activities and camping trips.

"The nature and extent of the relationship of trust between (the offender) and his granddaughters was significant," the judge wrote. "So is the degree of harm they continue to suffer."

In victim impact statements the sisters read out in court, they described the ongoing effects of the offences on their lives – including panic attacks, trust issues and feelings of brokenness.

The oldest sibling told the court she continues to suffer "feelings of disgust when witnessing love or affection shown by any grandparent towards a grandchild," Walker wrote.

"She recalls isolating herself and suffering from anxiety as a child – moving from being a sweet, happy, carefree girl to a person suffering from hate, worried around men and unable to express and control her emotions," he said.

Throughout the court proceedings, the grandfather steadfastly refused to take "any responsibility or accountability" for his actions, according to the decision.

Instead, he accused the victims' mother – his daughter-in-law, who was married to his late son – and the oldest granddaughter of conspiring against him. He provided no evidence to support that claim, but suggested his daughter-in-law wanted payback because he had called her a "rotten b****" about six years prior.

He also told the court the rest of his family stood behind him, believing the allegations to be "lies." A number of relatives submitted letters of support on his behalf.

The loss of those family connections weighed heavily on the victims, Walker wrote.

A psychologist who conducted personality and psychopathology testing on the grandfather last fall found he tended to "portray himself as relatively free of common shortcomings that most people will admit to," according to a summary included in the decision, which the author suggested could point to "limited personal insight, repression, and/or denial."

The psychologist described the senior's behaviour as reflecting "an opportunistic, exploitative and hedonistic pattern of sexual offending, possibly catalyzed by alcohol use, by virtue of which he sought variegated and gratuitous sexual stimulation with girls to whom he had ready access and over whom he could exert coercion and control." However, the psychologist also found he also presented a low-risk of recidivism.

On top of his prison sentence – for which he was given 140 days' credit for time served – the senior was ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years and to avoid in-person contact with anyone under the age of 16 without a sober adult from outside his immediate family present.

Walker considered a longer prison term of nine years, but decided against it, in part because it could "exceed the offender's natural life span," according to the decision.

The judge also weighed the expected "adverse impact" of imprisonment on the senior's health, which the court heard was already in decline, as a factor.