Peter G. Derry

Garth Bent was found guilty of indecent assault of a male person, committed in 1982 when the victim was 13 and Bent was 22, acting as a camp leader.

This sentencing decision followed a trial, and Bent had a prior record from 2009/2010 for similar historical sexual offences for which he received a conditional sentence.

The court considered aggravating factors such as breach of trust and victim vulnerability, and mitigating factors including Bent's self-initiated withdrawal from youth work, voluntary counselling, and apologies to other known victims, as well as his crime-free life for 35 years.

The court found that specific deterrence and rehabilitation were not relevant, and imposed a 12-month conditional sentence, a life-term SOIRA order, and declined a weapons prohibition order by applying the most lenient statutory regime available between the time of the offence and sentencing.

The accused was charged with impaired care or control of a motor vehicle and failure to provide a suitable breath sample.

The Crown's case rested on evidence that the accused was found impaired in the driver's seat of his vehicle with keys accessible nearby, and that he deliberately failed to provide a breath sample.

The defence challenged the charges on substantive grounds and also brought a Charter application alleging breaches of sections 7, 9, and 10(a).

The court found that while the Crown had proven both offences beyond a reasonable doubt on the merits, the accused's rights were violated during an unjustified investigative detention that involved excessive force, including handcuffing, forced confinement in a police cruiser, and physical violence.

The court stayed both charges pursuant to section 24(1) of the Charter and the common law doctrine of abuse of process, finding that proceeding with the prosecution would undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.