OTTAWA — A former Mountie who tortured and starved his young son in the basement of the family's suburban Ottawa home should spend 23 years behind bars for inflicting the "horrific" abuse, a Crown prosecutor argued Thursday.
The mental and physical injuries the man inflicted on his son were of the worst magnitude and such a sentence would be in step with what society demands, Marie Dufort told an Ottawa court, noting that Parliament has recently strengthened sentencing provisions for child abuse, particularly when it involves sexual offences.
"The horrors of this case . . . demand a sentence at the high end of the spectrum," Dufort told Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger, who in November found the former counter-terrorism officer guilty of aggravated assault, sexual assault causing bodily harm, forcible confinement and failing to provide the necessaries of life.
The man, who cannot be identified under a court order protecting his son's identity, was charged shortly after his emaciated and injured 11-year-old was found wandering his west Ottawa neighbourhood in search of water after escaping his home in February 2013.
During his trial, the court was shown several videos, found on the father's phone, of the boy naked, crying and restrained in the basement of his family's home.
The boy looked gaunt, with his ribs clearly visible.
"The images of those recordings are seared in our minds," Dufort told the court, adding that the only reason the abuse stopped was because the boy escaped.
"If that treatment would have continued he would have died," she said.
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.
Defence lawyer Robert Carew argued the former Mountie should receive a sentence of between five and seven years. He cited several recent cases involving similar offences, including a 2005 case in Newfoundland where a 41-year-old man was convicted of severely abusing his two daughters. In that case, the children had suffered broken bones and confinement over several years and the father was sentenced to six years behind bars.
Court heard Wednesday from two psychiatrists who testified that the man suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and chronic depression.
But Dufort said Thursday the man's PTSD could not be used to excuse the torture he inflicted on his son. Instead, she argued, the abuse he dished out was likely more as a result of his narcissistic character.
The boy's maternal aunt earlier read a victim impact statement, calling the prosecution of her nephew's father and stepmother a "gut-wrenching" and "achingly long journey."
