Photo: Castanet Staff

A Kamloops man who admitted to sexually abusing his young stepdaughter over a period of years could spend six months in prison.

The 28-year-old man’s identity cannot be published under a court-ordered ban put in place to protect his victim. He pleaded guilty last year to one count of sexual interference of a person under 16 and was in Kamloops provincial court on Wednesday for a sentencing hearing.

Court heard the abuse took place over a three-year period while the girl was between eight and 11 years old.

In July 2019, the girl told her grandmother that her stepfather had been sexually touching her buttocks for three years. The grandmother reported the allegations to police and the man confessed when interviewed by investigators.

Crown prosecutor Bonnie MacDonald said the abuse typically took place while the girl’s mother was out of the house.

Court heard the girl’s life has changed drastically as a result of the abuse. Calling it a “devastating alteration,” MacDonald said the girl ultimately left her mother and moved to a new community to live with her dad.

“She has suffered,” she said. “Her life changed wholesale as a result of these incidents.”

MacDonald said the girl lived in a constant state of anxiety during the period the abuse was taking place.

“It’s not just the acts themselves,” she said.

“It’s the periods of stress in between the acts when she was waiting for something to happen, on her guard.”

Defence lawyer Eric Rines said his client is sorry.

“He doesn’t fully understand his actions or why he did it, but he accepts responsibility,” he said.

“What he does understand is the impact of his actions on [the victim]. … There’s nothing he can do to take back the harm done. What he does want to do is do his best, adhere to all conditions and be there for his children moving forward.”

MacDonald asked Kamloops provincial court Judge Stella Frame to impose a six-month jail sentence followed by two years of probation, with conditions requiring the man to keep away from children and stay at least two kilometres away from the victim until she’s 18.

Rines suggested a six-month period of house arrest, a further six months under a strict curfew and then a two-year probation term.

Lawyers are slated to meet on Feb. 4 to set a date for Frame’s decision.

The man is not in custody.