Crown seeks record prison sentences for parents in horrific child abuse case

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The Crown is seeking what could be the longest sentence ever in the London region – and matching some of the longest ever recorded in Canada – for a couple convicted at a disturbing child sexual and physical abuse trial.

Assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Moser said during her sentencing argument Tuesday that they’re seeking 30 years in prison for the father, 57, and 25 years for the mother, 54.

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They were convicted last spring after a marathon jury trial during which four of their children described horrific physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents in their strict, religious household over a 19-year period, ending in 2020, when the children fled the family home.

“The abusers were the victims’ parents. These victims had no safe harbour, no parent to cling to, no one to keep the horrors at bay,” Moser said to Superior Court Justice Thomas Heeney.

“Our victims in this case also knew they weren’t alone. Their siblings were also suffering the same abuse. The only question was: Whose turn was it tonight?”

The mother’s defence is seeking a 10-year sentence, while the father’s defence is expected to be calling for a sentence of 19 1/2 years.

Moser explained that the Crown is seeking a longer sentence for the father because he was the principal in many sexual assaults and the mother was party to the offences. He also worked to separate the children from his wife and continued to assault them after their separation.

During the trial, the children, now all adults, described brutal sexual indignities committed by both parents and “consequences” where they were beaten, tied up or locked away in sheds, cupboards and basements without food and water.

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While behind closed doors was a harrowing nightmare, the rest of the world saw an accomplished family unit. The abuses occurred in a number of Ontario cities where the family resided, ending in London.

The identities of the children, and by extension, their parents, are protected by a court-ordered publication ban.

The mother was convicted of 18 counts including sexual assaults, incest, forcible confinement, assault, administering noxious substances and choking. The father was convicted of 15 counts including multiple sexual assaults, forcible confinement, extortion and incest.

The victims testified through a closed-circuit connection during the trial and were not in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing. Three of the four children wrote victim impact statements. Moser and assistant Crown attorney Heather Donkers read them into the record.

They wrote about trying to heal from years of abuse. They spoke of chronic pain and migraines, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleepless nights and nightmares and constant fear and anxiety. All of them asked that Heeney order their parents to never contact them again.

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“I still don’t always feel safe in my own home The years of psychological and physical abuse at the hands of my parents stole my childhood and continue to impact my life as an adult,” one of them wrote.

“This wasn’t the childhood I deserved and it’s left me with wounds I’m still trying to heal. Wounds that may not heal,” another wrote.

Added another: “My mom and dad were my first bullies, my first abusers and the people I needed protection from.”

The defence was expected to make sentencing arguments Tuesday afternoon.

jsims@postmedia.com

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