"It's a life-altering event when children have to testify against a parent."
Honourable Judge Kathleen Williams stressed that one of the few mitigating factors in a case where a Bonnyville man assaulted his two children with a metal object, was the fact that they wouldn't have to take the stand during a trial.
The father of five appeared via CCTV on Tuesday, July 2 in the Bonnyville Provincial Courthouse, where he pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon, impersonating a police officer, harassment, breach of a protection order, resisting a peace officer, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, and failing to attend court.
He was sentenced to six months in jail, a two-year weapons prohibition, and one-year probation. He will also provide a sample of his DNA for the national databank.
The charges stem from multiple incidences, including a Sept. 16, 2018 assault on his two children, who Crown prosecutor Tyler MacLean believed were both under the age of 10.
Police were contacted about two youth with what MacLean described as "extensive bruising." The two children disclosed that their father had assaulted them with a piece of metal.
Officers attended the male's residence, and he was arrested.
"It's aggravating that they were children, his children, and there was a weapon used," stated MacLean.
Two months after the assault, on Nov. 13, 2018, Bonnyville RCMP were notified that a male had continuously contacted a Kehewin residence by phone in an attempt to speak to the children's mother, claiming to be Cst. George of the local RCMP. The woman who answered the phone recognized the voice as the victim's former spouse.
The female had an emergency protection order, which placed the male under conditions to have no contact with the victim or their children, and not to be within 100-metres of the family, or the children's school.
That order was still in place a few days later when the male was spotted outside of their school, waiting for the female and the children to leave.
The male followed the female and children to a second location.
MacLean said the female feared for her and her children's safety.
On March 11, St. Paul RCMP were attending the St. Paul courthouse when they were notified by a family violence liaison worker that a male who was wanted for breaching an emergency protection order was in the building.
When officers went to speak to him, he fled, running through the first set of doors before police caught up and arrested him.
That same male was involved in an incident on March 24, when Bonnyville RCMP were contacted about a suspicious vehicle in a back alley.
Officers located the vehicle and the male, who quickly climbed into the driver's seat before two additional suspects ran off.
When police questioned the man about who the others were, he refused to identify them.
MacLean said that was when the male sped off, driving "recklessly" through a residential area, at one point nearly striking a family of four who were crossing the street.
The vehicle sped off towards the highway and police made the decision not to pursue.
"Dangerous driving is a concern for this court... When he chose to speed off in the fashion that he did, he almost hit a family... There were other people. That's a serious situation. It's lucky that no one else got hurt," expressed Williams.
In relation to the assault on his children, acting duty counsel Hart Spencer said, "He recognizes his mistakes... It was clearly a disciplinary situation that went over the line and into criminal conduct."
"My kids weren't in distress," the accused said. "I love my kids very much."
The male stressed to Williams, "I'm not a criminal," after apologizing for his actions.
"You've committed criminal offences," Williams noted, adding that doesn't mean he can't change his ways.
Had it not been a joint submission, Williams continued, the man would have faced a "significantly longer" sentence than the six months in prison he was given.
He will serve one-year of probation upon his release, with conditions to keep the peace, be of good behaviour, attend treatment and counselling relating to domestic violence, anger management, and family counselling, abstain from the possession or consumption of alcohol or drugs, and have no weapons.
The male will is also banned from possessing any weapons for two years.
As of his sentencing, he had 115 days left to serve.
Williams once again referred to the fact that the children won't have to testify in court, which would have been the case if it were to proceed to trial.
She emphasized how that's an event "children never get over."
Due to the nature of the offence, and to protect the victims, the name of the accused will not be released.
