Sarah Cleghorn

The parties separated when their child was six months old.

The mother relocated to Guelph with the child, while the father remained in Brampton.

At trial, the parties agreed the mother would have sole decision-making responsibility, leaving the father's parenting schedule and his request for a reduction in child support due to high access costs as the remaining issues.

The court considered the child's learning difficulties, the father's commute, and the recommendations of the Office of the Children's Lawyer.

The court ordered alternating weekend parenting time for the father from Friday after school to Sunday evening, plus a mid-week community visit in Guelph.

The father's request for a reduction in child support was dismissed.

The accused, an Indigenous man with a lengthy criminal record including two prior sexual assaults, was convicted of sexual interference and sexual assault against a 14-year-old complainant.

The complainant was highly intoxicated and vulnerable when the accused followed and sexually assaulted her.

The court considered Gladue factors but found that the gravity of the offence, the accused's predatory behaviour, and the need for denunciation and separation from society necessitated a lengthy penitentiary term.

The accused was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment, less credit for pre-trial custody, along with ancillary orders including a lifetime section 161 prohibition.