WINDSOR, N.S. — A former paramedic convicted of sexually assaulting a 71-year-old woman in her home in rural Nova Scotia was sentenced to four years in prison today.
The judge also ordered James Duncan Keats to provide a DNA sample as he will be added to the National Sex Offender Registry for 20 years.
Keats, 50, was convicted in June of assaulting the woman in the upstairs bedroom of her home in 2013 while his partner tended to her ailing husband downstairs.
Keats pleaded not guilty to the charge and has maintained his innocence. He has no previous criminal record.
His lawyer, Chrystal MacAulay, said outside court her client will seek an appeal of the conviction and the sentence.
In court, Judge Claudine MacDonald said Keats, who had been a paramedic for 14 years, had abused his position of trust.
"You knew exactly what you were doing," she said.
"You were in her house to do your work ... Instead, you abused your position of trust and committed a serious sexual assault."
The Crown had said previously it would seek a prison sentence of between five and seven years. The defence asked for a sentence of two to three years.
Keats was found not guilty of a second charge of sexual assault involving the same woman in 2012.
He was also acquitted of two counts of breach of trust.
