8.5 years for Kamloops man who sexually assaulted his daughter

CONTENT ADVISORY A Kamloops man who filmed himself sexually assaulting his daughter, then bragged about it online, was handed a more than eight year prison sentence. The decision was met with anger from family in the courtroom on April 26.  The 38-year-old bowed his head for nearly the entire sentencing hearing, appearing to cover his ears at times when Judge Mariane Armstrong read some of the most disturbing details of how he sexually assaulted the young girl. He cannot be named because of his relation to the victim and a publication ban in place to protect her identity. READ MORE: Sister of Kelowna man who died while evacuated due to UBCO highrise excavation wants answers https://infotel.ca/newsitem/family-of-deceased-resident-evacuated-due-to-ubco-highrise-construction-in-kelowna-speaks-out/it104458 The man was caught just weeks after he was sentenced https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kamloops-man-accused-of-sexually-exploiting-daughter-while-on-house-arrest/it95934 for sexually assaulting his ex-wife then sharing videos of the assault with other women. He was under house arrest when he started talking to undercover U.S. law enforcement in a chatroom dedicated to sharing child sexual abuse material. The court heard he had shared videos and photos of his own daughter while he was sexually abusing her. She was sleeping and he said he would sometimes use cough syrup or melatonin to make her drowsy. "Only when she's sleeping," he told the undercover officer. "I don't want to corrupt her and fuck her up, but I still want to have my fun." In the chatroom, he said the abuse had gone on for years since the nine-year-old was only one. He also said he abused one of the girl's friends years earlier. Neither of those claims, nor the claim that he used drugs on his daughter, were proven in court. Armstrong, however, said it showed he had "callous disregard" for what he was doing and how it would impact his daughter and the family. He was made to stand while Armstrong read his sentence. He struggled to look at the family that filled the courtroom gallery, then tried to apologize. READ MORE: FILLING THE GAPS: Getting ready for closure of homeless support centre in Kamloops https://infotel.ca/newsitem/filling-the-gaps-getting-ready-for-closure-of-homeless-support-centre-in-kamloops/it104446V His victim will still be younger than 18 when he's released, one woman said when she heard eight-and-a-half year sentence. Another man was so angry he left the courtroom. Armstrong said he is a high risk to reoffend. She also said despite showing remorse for what he did, the man showed similar remorse when he was sentenced for sharing videos of his ex-wife, then "engaged in even more egregious behaviour" while on house arrest. Armstrong said his crimes "imploded" the family and left the victim, who had no knowledge of the assaults until after he was charged, "inconsolable." He pleaded guilty to four of his five criminal charges, including sexual interference of a person under 16 and three related to making, possessing and distributing child pornography, as it's described in the Criminal Code. The charge for administering drugs in order to commit an offence was stayed by the Crown. The maximum sentence for all but one of those crimes is 14 years in prison. Possession of child pornography comes with a sentence of ten years in prison, which was raised from five in 2015, Armstrong noted. Although his sentence was set at a total eight-and-a-half years, he was given credit for time-served, leaving him with seven more years behind bars. To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry mailto:llandry@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .