Editor’s note: The following story contains some disturbing information, so reader discretion is advised.
MOOSE JAW — A Moose Jaw-area man will spend the next six months in jail after being found guilty of sexually touching a girl under the age of 16.
The 27 year old appeared in Moose Jaw Provincial Court on April 14 to learn his sentence, after Judge David Chow found him guilty of sexual interference, sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching during a trial in July 2024; the offences occurred in June 2023 in a rural municipality west of the city.
Background
During the 2024 trial, an RCMP officer, the offender, the 16-year-old girl — who was 15 at the time of the offences — and a forensics expert testified.
Court heard that the man and teen drove on a grid road — while smoking pot — and discussed topics such as drugs, the lack of intimacy in his marriage and pornography, before he asked the girl whether she wanted to pursue a sexual relationship or perform oral sex on him; she declined both.
Court also heard that she did sit on his lap, where they kissed and he fondled and kissed her breasts. He later drove her back to town and agreed that she could tell her friend about the encounter. However, other friends encouraged her to tell her parents, which she did, and her mother called RCMP. That officer took the girl’s clothes and sent them for analysis, while he also arrested the man.
Weeks after the trial, while reading his decision that declared the 27-year-old guilty of his charges, Judge Chow said the forensics expert’s testimony was “of great assistance” since the expert said the analysis found the accused's DNA was among DNA on the victim's bra.
The judge also said the accused was inconsistent in his testimony, pleaded ignorance about how his DNA was on the girl’s bra, and claimed the teen fabricated the sexual encounter.
Sentencing
At the April 14 appearance, the 27-year-old man — through his defence lawyer, Estes Fonkalsrud — pleaded guilty to the charge of sexual interference, while the Crown stayed the other two charges.
Meanwhile, based on the sentencing submissions, Judge Chow said the man should spend the next half-year in jail, followed by 12 months of probation.
Some probation conditions include taking programming as directed, reporting to a probation officer, having no contact — except through a lawyer — with the teen girl or being near her home, work or school, and submitting a DNA sample.
The judge also imposed a publication ban on naming the victim, so to protect her privacy, the Moose Jaw Express, MooseJawToday.com and SaskToday.ca will not name the offender.
Judge Chow said the joint submission was appropriate based on the seriousness of the offences, since the 27 year old sexually touched the teen with his mouth and hands on her breasts and genitals.
Although 15 at the time, the girl was mature for her age, while she and the man both smoked cannabis at work “on numerous occasions,” the judge continued. While the teen voluntarily engaged with him during the sexual encounter, the man was still the adult and should have known better.
Judge Chow said he didn’t believe the man posed a high risk to reoffend, and because his job kept him away from home for weeks, he decided against putting the man on the national sex offender registry since its regular reporting requirements would be a “hindrance” to his job and be “grossly disproportionate” to the public’s interest of safety and protection.
The judge added that the 27 year old must pay the victim fund surcharge of $100.
After court concluded, the man hugged his wife — she was emotional over the sentence — and was led away by deputy court sheriffs.
