COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
RE: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent) – and – JOHN RICHARD McCAULEY (Appellant)
BEFORE: LASKIN, FELDMAN and BLAIR JJ.A.
COUNSEL: Murray Shore For the appellant
Karen Shai For the respondent
HEARD: May 10, 2004
RELEASED ORALLY: May 10, 2004
On appeal from sentence imposed by Justice Moira Caswell of the Superior Court of Justice on January 7, 2002 after conviction on May 26, 2000.
E N D O R S E M E N T
1The appellant appeals his sentence of nine years for sexual assault. The trial judge rejected the Crown’s application to have the appellant declared a dangerous offender, instead declared him a long-term offender, and imposed a nine year sentence for the predicate offence.
2The appellant is 42 years old and has five prior convictions for sexual assault, including one on the same little girl whom he assaulted in this case.
3The trial judge was faced with a very difficult sentencing decision. She explained that the sentence she imposed, which only gave one for one credit for pre-trial custody and was two years more than the sentence the Crown suggested, was given in order to try to ensure that the appellant would receive the sex offender treatment program while in custody. The ability to be treated and released into society was the main reason for imposing the long-term offender rather than the dangerous offender designation.
4The appellant is scheduled to commence that program in early June. If he completes it successfully, he will be eligible for consideration for parole by the parole board at that time.
5We see no error in principle in the disposition imposed by the trial judge in this case. We would therefore not interfere with the sentence imposed. Leave to appeal sentence is granted but the appeal is dismissed.
Signed: “John Laskin J.A.”
“K. Feldman J.A.”
“Robert Blair J.A.