OTTAWA — A former RCMP counter-terrorism officer has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars for torturing and starving his young son in the basement of the family's home.
After time already served, the 45-year-old faces 13 years and two months in prison.
The man, who cannot be identified, was convicted in November of two counts of aggravated assault, one each of sexual assault causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement, assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life, and a range of firearms offences.
Last month during his sentencing hearing, the man apologized for being "a monster" to his son, who was just 11 years old when he was found wandering his west Ottawa neighbourhood, emaciated and in search of water after escaping the home in February 2013.
Crown prosecutors had argued the man should receive a cumulative 23 years behind bars, less time served, for inflicting horrific abuse on his son.
Court was told the boy's injuries were of the worst magnitude and such a sentence would be in step with what society demands. Those injuries included burns to his genitals from a barbecue lighter and scars around his ankles where the boy was shackled, sometimes naked, in the basement.
But defence lawyer Robert Carew argued the father should serve between five and seven years, noting several recent cases involving similar offences had resulted in sentences within that range.
The court also heard the former Mountie suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The man’s wife, the boy’s adoptive mother, was found guilty of assault with a weapon and failing to provide the necessaries of life and was given a three-year sentence.
In finding the man guilty last fall, Justice Robert Maranger called the case "gut-wrenching."
The evidence presented at trial — illustrating how the adolescent boy was abused, confined, burned, beaten, assaulted and starved — was "unequivocal and overwhelming," the judge said in his written ruling.
