Lia Bramwell

Sentencing decision arising from convictions for sexual touching, sexual assault, and invitation to sexual touching committed by a parent against a child.

The court emphasized denunciation and deterrence, treated the parental breach of trust, the complainant's young age, the use of alcohol, and the invasive nature of the abuse as major aggravating factors, and found little mitigating value in the offender's personal circumstances or asserted low actuarial risk.

Applying appellate sentencing guidance for sexual abuse of children by adults in positions of trust, the court fixed an appropriate range and imposed a penitentiary sentence.

One conviction was stayed because it arose from the same facts, and multiple ancillary protective orders were made.

The accused pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter arising from a fatal apartment building fire started when he lit an artificial Christmas wreath as a prank and left the scene.

Two residents died from burns and smoke inhalation and extensive property damage resulted.

The court considered the objective foreseeability of bodily harm required for unlawful act manslaughter, the offender’s youth, remorse, guilty plea, and lack of subjective intent to cause harm.

Aggravating factors included the extreme recklessness of igniting a fire in a residential hallway and the loss of two lives.

A penitentiary sentence reflecting denunciation, deterrence, and rehabilitation was imposed.

Following trial convictions for sexual assault-related offences against a child, the court imposed sentence with primary emphasis on denunciation, deterrence, and separation from society under sections 718 and 718.01 of the Criminal Code.

The court found numerous aggravating factors, including repeated abuse over years, abuse of parental trust, use of a weapon, and attempts to silence the victim with money, while identifying few mitigating factors.

The court also treated lack of insight and poor response to prior programming as relevant to rehabilitation prospects, without treating denial of guilt as an aggravating factor.

A global penitentiary sentence of six years was imposed, with 2:1 credit for pre-sentence custody for charges predating February 22, 2010.

Ancillary lifetime orders were made for weapons prohibition, DNA collection, sex offender registration, and child-contact restrictions, along with no-contact orders during custody and post-release.