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Father sentenced for years of sexual abuse

A 38-year-old Prince George man was sentenced Friday to a further 10 years and 8 months in prison for several offences, including one count of incest, for subjecting his daughter and son to years of sexual abuse.

A 38-year-old Prince George man was sentenced Friday to a further 10 years and 8 months in prison for several offences, including one count of incest, for subjecting his daughter and son to years of sexual abuse.

The man, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban against information that would identify the victims, was sentenced to a total of 14 years less two-for-one credit of three years and four months for 610 days time served in pre-sentence custody.

The man had been arrested in January 2010, prior to legislation eliminating the two-for-one credit. Crown prosecutor Shannon Keyes had argued for 1.5-to-one credit, saying the man had deliberately delayed sentencing by insisting on an in-person interview with a psychiatrist, even though he had previously accepted an interview by video with a psychologist, forcing a six month delay. However, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper disagreed, saying she was not persuaded the delay was the man's fault.

The total sentence is at the higher end of the range suggested by counsel. Keyes called for 17 years and defence lawyer Jordan Watt argued for 10 years in total.

During sentencing arguments, the words "horrific, terrible, egregious, abhorrent" were used to describe the acts the father forced on the two, Gropper noted. Reiterating Keyes' assertion the daughter "does not remember a time in her life when she was not engaging in sexual acts with her father" Gropper found she was forced to have sex with the man thousands of times over a 13 year period while the son had become a target by the time he was eight years old.

In January 2010, the daughter went to a school counsellor and then the RCMP with her allegations and the man, who had previously been convicted of sexually touching his five year old niece, was arrested.

A subsequent police search of the family home found nearly 33,000 images of child pornography, a large number of written stories concerned exclusively with incest, and 237 videos with similar content, five of them involving the daughter and son. A further search uncovered a video tape hidden away that depicted the man and the daughter.

The man's own childhood was troubled, Gropper noted. His mother was an alcoholic and he was subject to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of his grandfather and a foster brother, the court had heard. And although it took nearly a year, he did plead guilty to the charges, she said.

However, she also noted he has met the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia with signs of sexual sadism and poses a high risk for reoffending. He was ordered to provide a DNA sample and will be included in the national sex offender registry for 20 years. And during that time, he is prohibited from being found near any playgrounds, schools, public pools or other areas where minors are commonly present and is prohibited from contacting anyone 16 years old and younger.

In determining the sentence, Gropper issued a term of six years for the count of incest, with consecutive terms of six years for two counts of sexual interference of a person under 16 with concurrent terms of four years for two counts of invitation to sexual touching involving a person under 14. Counts of possessing child pornography and producing child pornography yielded a further two years.