Grandfather Sentenced

A Penticton grandfather has received a suspended sentence for fondling his granddaughter.

The 79-year-old man, who can’t be named to protect the identity of the eight-year-old girl, was sentenced this week in Penticton provincial court.

He plead guilty in January to one count of sexual assault from an incident in August 2005.

The man told the court that he touched his granddaughter under her underpants as she sat on his lap.

He says he came to his senses and urged the girl to keep their secret. However, the girl told her grandmother what had happened.

Judge Ellen Burdett gave the man a suspended sentence including 18 months probation and ordered him to attend a sexual offenders treatment program.

She also ordered the man to have no contact with his granddaughter or any child under 16 unless in the presence of an adult.