A man was sentenced Tuesday to six months house arrest followed by three years probation for secretly taking photos of his stepdaughter while she was showering.
His actions have left lasting emotional scars on both the stepdaughter and the mother, the court heard.
"When I try to forget I end up trying to pack away the feelings, the emotion, the memory. But it doesn't work that way" the stepdaughter said in a victim impact read into the record during a hearing at the Prince George courthouse.
Instead, a "rush of emotions" flare up - hurt, anger, fear and loneliness.
"Nothing can take back the pain and shame," she said.
The girl was 10-to-12 years old at the time of the incidents and the family was living in Prince George. The stepfather was arrested in February 2015, after they had moved to the Lower Mainland.
The mother said she is "emotionally broken" and doubts she could ever have another relationship.
She also said she "feels stupid" for giving him another chance after he was caught previously and believes her daughter now struggles with feelings of hate towards her "because she thought I didn't believe her."
The man, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban against information that could identify the victim, pleaded guilty to one counts of secretly recording nudity in a private place on the first day of a trial.
The sentence was reached via a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels. Conditions of the house arrest include a curfew of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
He is also prohibited from owning any electronic device capable of taking photo or video for the duration of both the house arrest - also known as a conditional sentence order - and the probation and his name will be on the national sexual offender registry for 10 years.
