A grandfather who transmitted herpes to his 6-year-old granddaughter when she was sexually assaulted while babysitting was sentenced this morning to 3 years in prison under the gaze of his loved ones, who are still wracked by the pain.
“You stole my father, my life, you broke the trust we placed in you,” the victim’s mother and the defendant’s daughter said in tears this Friday at the Montreal courthouse.
Torn between her vision of a father she “loves so much” and the “monster” who abused her daughter, the woman, whose identity is being protected by the court, couldn’t hold back her tears as she spoke about the The consequences of the sexual assault on her child spoke a year ago.
At the time, the 65-year-old defendant was babysitting his granddaughter when he decided to sexually abuse her. He hoped that the child would remain silent, but in the following days the latter complained of pain in her genitals. She had difficulty sitting up, but refused to be examined by her parents.
destroyed child
Concerned, they took the child to the hospital, where doctors found that he had contracted herpes type 1. And according to the tests, everything indicated that the grandfather, a carrier of the virus, gave him the disease.
“Since that day I have lost everything,” said the child’s mother. She is withdrawn, anxious, depressed, she no longer has any zest for life. »
Through tears, the unidentifiable grandfather apologized for his actions.
“I’m so sorry, I beg your pardon,” he said through tears.
His lawyer, Me Michael Morena, then said that the accused reportedly had a drinking problem and had been “completely isolated” since his crime. Crown Prosecutor Me Bruno Ménard said that if the grandfather had pleaded not guilty, he would have asked for a higher sentence.
Judge Joëlle Roy, who highlighted the strength of the victim’s mother and her nuanced testimony, went along with the attorneys’ suggestion. And as soon as he is released from prison, the grandfather will be limited in his contacts with minors. He will also be on the sex offender registry for 20 years.