The offender pleaded guilty to multiple assaults and assaults with a weapon arising from a prolonged pattern of physical abuse of two young children in the family home, captured on video over nearly two years.
The court treated the victims' young age, the repeated nature of the abuse, the use of weapons, and the grave breach of parental trust as major aggravating factors, while also giving weight to guilty pleas, remorse, lack of prior record, significant mental health issues connected to the offences, and substantial rehabilitative efforts.
Applying the sentencing principles of proportionality, parity, restraint, and the framework governing conditional sentences, the court found that incarceration was necessary but that a term of less than two years could safely and appropriately be served in the community.
A conditional sentence of two years less a day with strict house arrest and GPS monitoring was imposed, followed by two years' probation, together with a DNA order and a 10-year weapons prohibition.
