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A man who impregnated his 11-year-old daughter, who bore the baby when she was 12, has been sentenced to five years in a penitentiary.

 

"I must say, sir, it's difficult, if not almost impossible, for me to understand how anyone could possibly do this to their own daughter, a daughter of such tender years," Judge Ronald Bell said in Saskatoon provincial court.

"She is scarred for life, sir. She may never fully recover from this, it's that traumatic, what she has faced in that period of time," Bell said.

 

The 41-year-old man, who cannot be named because it could identify the victim, pleaded guilty to incest and sexual assault, which occurred between Jan. 1, 2002, and July 1, 2004, in the city.

 

He has a previous conviction for manslaughter, for which he served 27 months in custody in Alberta before being paroled.

 

The date of that offence and incarceration were not stated in court.

 

Little current information about the girl and her baby was available to the court, but Crown prosecutor Val Adamko said the girl is living out of province and has a relationship with her child.

 

She was living with one of her grandmothers in Ontario after the baby was born and the Durham Children's Aid Society was involved with the case. Adamko did not know who has guardianship of the girl and baby.

 

Adamko was not able to say in an interview Friday where the victim's mother was, or is. The father had custody of the victim and at least one other daughter, but there also was no information available about them.

 

In addition to seeking a five-year sentence, Adamko argued the man should not receive the customary double credit for seven months spent at the correctional centre awaiting trial. She cited the example of another child sex offender who was denied that compensation.

 

Bell agreed in passing sentence on Oct. 18.

 

"The court in most cases does give double credit for remand time, which is more difficult than straight time, but given the very serious nature of this offence and the trauma you have put your daughter through, sir, I'm not prepared to give any more credit than single credit for the seven months," Bell said, before ordering the man to serve another four years and five months.

 

The abuse came to light in May 2004, when a teacher suspected the girl was pregnant, Adamko told the court.

The father co-operated with social workers, giving consent for the girl to be tested. It confirmed the pregnancy and showed the baby was due that August.

 

The girl said her cousin had molested her, which led to his being investigated by police. The cousin denied the accusation and voluntarily gave a DNA sample. After the baby was born, tests proved the cousin was not the father.

 

In the meantime, the girl had been apprehended by social services and by January 2005, was living with her grandmother in Ontario. While there, the girl felt safe enough to tell her grandmother that her father was the real father of her baby. That fact was proven with DNA.

 

The girl said her father had told her to blame the cousin. She was afraid of her father and thought he would beat her up if she told the truth, she told her grandmother.

 

The abuse had begun when she was about 9 1/2 years of age. She estimated her father had intercourse with her 10 times, usually when he had been drinking alcohol, Adamko said.

 

He sometimes wore a condom but the fact he did not also placed the girl at risk of HIV and hepatitis C infection, Adamko said.

 

Commenting on a victim impact statement, Adamko said the girl "obviously wants to be involved with her child. Obviously, she's always left with the memory of how that young child came to be. She's left in a position where she's trying to parent this child or be involved with this child's life and always having to be reminded of the horrific things that she had to undergo as a result of that."

 

A social worker who has worked with the girl also provided a letter stating the girl's psycho-social development has been arrested because of this event, Adamko said.

 

"She now finds herself a mother long before she is emotionally, developmentally or psychologically ready for such responsibility. She struggles with the memories of the abuse. At times (the girl) has wished that she was dead and her ability to feel content and pleasure was impaired. (The girl) expects little from her future, due to her past disappointments. She has engaged in problematic behaviour and has placed herself in vulnerable social situations," the social worker wrote.

 

The girl continues to be affected by the "ongoing question of who is her baby's father and always having to answer that question as the years go by," Adamko said.

 

"Certainly there is some psychological and emotional scarring that will never be cured," the prosecutor said.

 

"I'm sorry for what happened and for what I did, deeply sorry, and I know I'll be hurt later on and be thinking about this. I'm sorry, deeply sorry. I messed up," the father said.

 

Defence lawyer Grant Crookshanks said the man has worked in construction and other labour jobs. He is an alcoholic and once remained sober for several years after completing a residential treatment program. However, he was drinking heavily at the time of the offences, Crookshanks said.

 

The man was given a lifetime firearms prohibition and will be on the national sex offender registry for 20 years.