A Saskatoon provincial court judge imposed an eight-year prison sentence on Friday for a crime he called “cruel and horrific.”

Kyle Landon Neapetung tied up Brenden Peters in a basement and tortured him for five days. He hit Peters on the head, cut and stabbed him, burnt him with a torch and carved his gang’s initials all over the man’s body. 

This was “gang-related revenge on an innocent person,” Judge Barry Singer said in his decision. 

Neapetung, 29, pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement and aggravated assault for the attack, which began on March 30, 2016 and lasted until April 3. Court heard Peters was later able to escape from the trunk of a car after it crashed into a median. He ran to St. Paul’s Hospital, where he saw Neapetung, who told him not to say anything. 

When police arrested Neapetung on the street later that month, he was carrying a sawed-off rifle and ammunition. He pleaded guilty to weapons charges, which resulted in a one-year sentence on top of the seven years he received for the assault and confinement.

The Crown argued for a nine-year sentence, saying there is no other Saskatchewan case involving this level of violence and length of confinement. Singer agreed with prosecutor Frank Impey’s description of the crime as “incomprehensible to most people.”

The weapons offences are also serious because they are gang-related and “demonstrate that the accused had adopted a violent lifestyle that was potentially dangerous to others,” Singer said.

Defence lawyer Lori Johnstone-Clarke argued for a total sentence of seven years on all the charges. She asked Singer to take into account the trauma Neapetung and his family suffered as a result of colonization, referred to as Gladue factors. 

Singer said those factors include Neapetung being neglected and physically abused by his mother, a residential school survivor who was unable to parent. Neapetung turned to drugs and joined a gang, resulting in a prison sentence in 2013.

“Gladue factors directly relate to his committing these crimes,” Singer said. “(They) assist us in explaining and understanding his horrific and violent behaviour in this case.”

He was doing well until 2016, when his mother died and he returned to gang life, Singer noted.

He recommended Neapetung take programming to learn how to cope with grief, anger and anxiety, as referred to in a pre-sentence report.

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• Man faces prison time for confining, torturing man in Saskatoon basement for five days

A 15-year-old boy is being tried as an adult at Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon for allegedly trying to kill a man by slashing his throat and hitting him in the head with a frying pan.

The teen is charged with attempted murder and unlawful confinement. His identity is banned from publication unless a sentencing hearing takes place. 

In his opening statement, prosecutor Evan Thompson said police arrived just before 7 a.m. on April 4, 2016 to an apartment on Main Street East, where Daryl Weber had been stabbed and hit in the head multiple times. The victim told police his attacker lived in the same apartment. 

Thompson said a knife found in the youth’s apartment is believed to have been one of the weapons. 

Crime scene photos showed blood on the floor near Weber’s door and on his bed, walls and chair. An officer with the forensic identification unit testified she was told to look for frying pans and knives as possible weapons. 

Both items were seized from the victim’s kitchen sink — which also contained blood — although neither the pan nor the knife tested positive for blood. Two more frying pans were tested and also came back negative. 

Multiple knives were taken for testing from the teen’s apartment. The identification officer testified that a positive blood test came back for one knife that another officer found in the bathroom. 

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Patrick McDougall asked the officer if she was aware of an assault that had taken place in that apartment a few weeks before Weber’s assault. The officer said no. 

Weber was expected to testify Monday afternoon, but the trial was adjourned based on new information from the witness. The judge-alone trial will resume this morning. 

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Jail time is necessary, but should be on the low end of the sentencing spectrum for a Hells Angels member convicted of offering to traffic cocaine, a Saskatoon provincial court judge has ruled.

Justice Grant Currie sentenced Robert Allen to a 12-month jail term Tuesday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench. In deciding the length of the sentence, he took into account the fact that no cocaine was produced, and that Allen pretended to go along with the plan because of his addiction, Currie said.

Allen, 36, offered to arrange a large cocaine deal between two Hells Angels associates in Ontario and Noel Harder, a drug dealer and member of the Fallen Saints motorcycle club who was secretly recording their conversations between September and December 2014. Harder was working as a police agent in Project Forseti, the drug and gun investigation targeting the Fallen Saints and Hells Angels.

Currie, calling the circumstances of the case unusual, said both Allen and Harder were pretending to go along with the plan, but for different reasons. Allen was motivated to play along because Harder was supplying him with pills for his opioid addiction, Currie said in his oral decision.

During sentencing arguments earlier this month, Allen’s lawyer, Morris Bodnar, said the sentence should not include any jail time because Allen had no intention of arranging a cocaine deal with Harder. Bodnar said it was Harder who approached Allen about getting a kilogram of cocaine, and that Allen humoured him so that Harder would keep giving him pills.

Harder should be the one before the court for trafficking drugs to Allen, Bodnar argued, alleging Allen was “set up” by Harder, who police recruited to prey on his addiction.

“The criminal gets away, the non-criminal goes to jail,” Bodnar said outside the courthouse following Tuesday’s sentencing. 

The Saskatoon Hells Angels

The Crown had argued for a five-year sentence, saying if the type of drug transaction that was discussed had actually taken place, the sentence could have been in the range of seven to 10 years.

Although no money or drugs were ever exchanged, the plan was discussed in great detail — including using hand signals and code language — over several months, federal Crown prosecutor Doug Curliss said during sentencing arguments. It detailed quantity and price and included Allen taking a $5,000 cut from every kilogram sold, he noted.

“The judge says trafficking cocaine where nothing happened is worth a year in prison. I think most people would view that as a pretty significant penalty on the basis that nothing was ever going to happen,” Curliss said outside court.

Currie convicted Allen of cocaine trafficking for offering to facilitate a drug deal — a subsection of the trafficking offence under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Currie ruled that even if Allen didn’t intend to help get cocaine for Harder, he is still guilty of the offence because he intended for Harder to believe the offer was real. 

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Related

• Crown wants 5 years, defence seeks no jail time, for Hells Angel convicted of cocaine trafficking
• Hells Angels member charged in Project Forseti convicted of offering to help traffic cocaine

The motive for a vicious attack that left a 57-year-old man stabbed in the throat and beaten with a baseball bat — not a frying pan, as initially thought — will likely remain a mystery.

Two very different accounts of what led up to the assault emerged in a Queen’s Bench courtroom on Tuesday. However, the essential elements of the offence are the same in both versions, Crown prosecutor Evan Thompson said. 

He outlined how Daryl Weber described inviting a then 15-year-old boy, who lived in his apartment building on Main Street East, into his suite on the morning of April 4, 2016. He said they were friends despite a large age difference. 

Weber alleged the teen, seemingly out of nowhere, said, “I like you Daryl, but I’m going to have to kill you,” before hitting him on the head and choking him unconscious. Weber said he awoke to the boy stabbing him in the throat and threatening to put child pornography on his cellphone if he told anyone what happened. 

The now 16-year-old boy said Weber was drinking alcohol, appeared depressed and put him in a chokehold. The boy said he was concerned for his safety and stabbed Weber “at least three times” in the neck with a knife he had in his pocket. 

He alleged Weber swung at him with a baseball bat and missed. The teen said he then grabbed the bat and hit Weber several times. 

Although Weber told police he was hit with a frying pan, forensic evidence pointed to the bat as the weapon, Thompson clarified. 

After hearing one day of testimony at his attempted murder trial, the teen pleaded guilty to the lesser included offence of aggravated assault. The guilty plea came just before Weber was expected to testify.

Thompson said recent social media activity that came to light during the trial would have complicated Weber’s version of events. That information was not detailed in court.

Regardless, Weber was left with severe injuries that constitute aggravated assault, Thompson said. The Crown sought to have the teen sentenced as an adult on the attempted murder charge; that changed with the guilty plea to aggravated assault. 

Balancing the youth sentencing principals of proportionality with the serious level of violence, the Crown and defence proposed a sentence of time served followed by two years of probation, which Justice Allisen Rothery accepted. Court heard the teen has been in secure custody at a youth facility for nearly 14 months. 

His probation conditions include seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist as required to deal with what the Crown indicated are “emerging concerns” about his mental health. 

The boy, who appeared unmoved throughout the proceedings, told the judge he was sorry. His mother has been struggling with depression and couldn’t bring herself to attend the trial, and his stepfather and biological father also have mental health issues, his lawyer said. 

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Related

• Attempted murder trial begins for teen accused of frying pan assault

Watch: In a regular feature, StarPhoenix court reporter Bre McAdam talks about some of the cases that went through Saskatoon courts this week.

Often referred to as the “Wheat Wizard of Rosthern,” Seager Wheeler’s tireless research, dedication and execution in the world of farming helped put the prairies on the map of Canada.

Wheeler came to Saskatchewan from the United Kingdom in 1885, building Maple Grove Farm east of Rosthern five years later. That’s where he taught himself about dry land farming.

SEAGER WHEELER

He became a member of the Canadian Seed Growers Association in 1910 and between 1911 and 1918, Wheeler won five international wheat-growing awards with his selectively-bred strains of spring wheat, setting a record that still stands today. He went on to write a book, publish several articles and give lectures, sharing his knowledge on progressive farming techniques and agricultural experimentation. 

The latter field was previously dominated by universities and governments. Those same institutions were requesting samples of Wheeler’s new wheat varieties: Marquis 10B, Kitchener and Red Bobs. 

Wheeler was also known for inventing seed cleaning equipment and developing horticulture species, including the Saskatchewan Crabapple. His farm once boasted the largest orchard on the prairies, according to the Seager Wheeler Farm’s website. 

People can still stroll through Maple Grove Farm — a Canada National Historic Site — as it continues to be restored to its 1919 condition. 

Wheeler was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1943. He moved to Victoria, B.C. in 1947 and died in 1961 at the age of 93. He remains arguably the most famous farmer in the history of the Canadian prairies. 

As we celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, the StarPhoenix and Leader-Post are telling the stories of 150 Saskatchewan people who helped shape the nation. Send your suggestions or feedback to sask150@postmedia.com.

A Saskatoon judge sentenced Gary Alexander Iron to six years in prison for robbing two businesses in the city within a two-week period in 2014.

When Iron entered the Broadway Avenue Booster Juice on Nov. 20, 2014 and the 22nd Street Manos Lounge on Dec. 3, 2014, he was holding what clerks described as a small black gun, according to an agreed statement of facts. A pellet gun that looked like a handgun was discovered when police arrested him at his girlfriend’s apartment, but the Crown said it did not match the definition of a weapon under the Criminal Code.

Although a Booster Juice employee picked Iron out of a photo lineup, he wasn’t found until Dec. 3, 2014. That afternoon, he was caught on surveillance video before robbing a Manos off-sale clerk of $300. Police immediately recognized him as the person wanted for the Booster Juice robbery, court heard.

Gary Alexander Iron.

Iron pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of robbery during what was scheduled to be the first day of his trial at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench. Defence lawyer Michael Nolin said Iron wanted to be sentenced so he could leave the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, where he recently had an altercation with another inmate. 

Justice Richard Danyliuk accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence, imposing a six-year sentence on both robbery charges. With an enhanced credit for the almost two and a half years he spent on remand, he has slightly more than two years left to serve. 

Iron committed the robberies to support his opioid addiction, Nolin said, adding the sentence is well above the medium range for robbery and much higher than Iron’s past robbery sentences.

Court heard he has been convicted of three previous robberies, including a 2016 conviction for using a knife to steal a tray of rings from Bateman Jewellers on Sept. 12, 2014. 

Iron is scheduled for a dangerous offender hearing in October in connection with the jewelry store robbery.

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Moments before their truck was rammed from behind, people inside described hearing the approach of a “high-revving” engine as they were stopped at the intersection of 22nd Street and Avenue P in Saskatoon. 

Dustin Joseph Gordon Lalonde was driving his quad-size truck westbound on 22nd Street, going 139 km/hr just seconds before he violently rear-ended the truck at 113 km/hr, Crown prosecutor Michael Pilon said.

When Justice Daryl Labach asked what led to someone driving that fast down one of Saskatoon’s main arteries, defence lawyer Ron Piche said he’d never asked his client that question. 

Lalonde, 28, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Court of Queen’s Bench to dangerous driving causing bodily harm, accounting for the three people injured in the chain-reaction crash that damaged four vehicles on March 28, 2015. The victims described prolonged headaches, neck and back pain as well as anxiety issues stemming from the severe impact. 

According to an agreed statement of facts, Lalonde’s truck ramped into the air, hit a telephone pole and flipped onto its roof, sliding into the intersection. When police arrived, they noticed he was stumbling around, slurring his words and smelled like alcohol. 

Pilon said although Lalonde’s alcohol consumption was an agreed fact, there were issues with the obtaining of blood samples. As a result, his initial 11-count indictment, which contained charges of impaired driving and driving with a blood-alcohol content over .08 causing bodily harm, was withdrawn and replaced with a single charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. 

Pilon argued for a one-year jail sentence followed by some sort of driving ban. He said the high rate of speed and injuries are aggravating factors. 

Lalonde had prior tickets for stunting, speeding and driving without due care and attention as well as another at-fault rear-end collision in 2015, according to an SGI driver’s abstract listed in court. He also took the Driving While Impaired program three times and “apparently learned nothing,” Pilon said.

There is no evidence that Lalonde was driving for a prolonged period of time and none of the victims were significantly injured, Piche noted when arguing for a 90-day intermittent jail sentence followed by three years of probation.

He said the sentence should not include a driving ban, as Lalonde hasn’t had a licence since his arrest yet continues to work for an employer who describes him as “reliable and hardworking.” Piche called Lalonde a “salt of the earth person” who found himself in a difficult situation.

Court heard he is also paying off $30,000 for the four vehicles that were damaged in the crash. 

A written decision is expected in June. 

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A scheduled bail hearing for Alexa Emerson, the woman facing numerous charges for allegedly sending bomb threats and white powder packages to schools and businesses in and around Saskatoon, did not go ahead on Thursday after her third lawyer withdrew from the case. 

Lisa Watson said there was a conflict of interest because she knows someone involved in the case. 

“This is a unique situation in that there are so many witnesses involved, businesses involved,” Watson said outside Saskatoon provincial court.

“It’s not usual that there would need to be so many lawyers; however, it’s not strange given these circumstances when there’s just so many people involved.”

Emerson also has a connection to the Saskatoon legal aid office and therefore cannot be represented by any of its lawyers, Watson said, adding the office is in the process of finding Emerson private counsel. 

Appearing in court with her hair in a ponytail and wearing glasses, Emerson — who previously went by the name Amanda Totchek — was presented with her new charges in connection with bomb threats sent out across the city last month.  

They include six counts of uttering threats that were sent to Aden Bowman Collegiate, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Ernst & Young, the Saskatoon Health Region, Global News and the University of Saskatchewan between April 11 and 26. 

Emerson is also now charged with uttering threats and public mischief after a white powder package was sent to Hague school on March 17, public mischief in connection with a video sent to Hague school on April 11 and another count of uttering threats to bomb the same school on April 25. 

An additional uttering threats charge was read out Thursday in connection with a bomb threat sent to Warman High School on April 26. 

No explosive devices were found in any of the locations. The bomb threats were made while Emerson was in custody at Pine Grove Correctional Centre.

Her charges date back to November 2016, when packages containing white powder were delivered to five Saskatoon businesses. She was charged with public mischief and threats to cause bodily harm, but was released on $5,000 bail in late January. 

More suspicious packages were sent out in late March, sometimes multiple times in a day. Emerson’s first lawyer, Brian Pfefferle, withdrew shortly after receiving a package. In all cases, the white powder ended up being non-hazardous. 

A warrant was issued for Emerson’s arrest on April 7. Two days later, a video surfaced of a woman claiming to be the one who sent the packages, but police have said they do not believe that woman is responsible for any criminal activity. 

Emerson, who was on conditions to live in Alberta, turned herself in to police the next day. 

Crown prosecutor Jennifer Claxton-Viczko said Emerson now faces 83 charges that involve as many as 250 witnesses. 

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Related

• Amanda Totchek, facing 54 white-powder charges, to remain in custody
• After arrest warrant issued over suspicious packages, Amanda Totchek now in custody: Saskatoon police
• Police investigating whether November suspicious packages connected to deliveries this week
• Alexa Emerson, accused of having suspicious envelopes sent to five Saskatoon buildings, says she's being framed

Joseph ‘David’ Caissie, the man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Carol King near Herschel, Sask. in 2011, has been committed to stand trial for first-degree murder and offering an indignity to a human body.

The decision was made Friday following a lengthy preliminary hearing in Saskatoon provincial court. Details presented at the hearing are banned from publication to ensure the accused has the right to a fair trial.

It could take months before a trial date is set. 

Caissie, 53, was charged in July 2016, nearly five years after King’s remains were found in an abandoned farmyard on Aug. 27, 2011. She had been missing for three weeks.

During the large search effort, police discovered King’s car submerged in a slough six kilometres away from where her body would eventually be found. 

Caissie was questioned numerous times in connection to the case but denied any involvement, telling police he had been working in Alberta at the time. 

Following the arrest, RCMP said they were never able to completely clear Caissie. However, police would not divulge why it took nearly five years to lay charges.

Caissie has been in custody since his arrest after he was denied bail in October 2016. 

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• Preliminary hearing begins for Joseph 'David' Caissie, accused of murdering Carol King in 2011

Watch: In a regular feature, StarPhoenix court reporter Bre McAdam talks about some of the cases that went through Saskatoon courts this week.

The red flag that led to the largest fraud case in the history of the Saskatchewan Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB) appeared when a case worker requested further evidence of Larry Hayter’s employment — evidence he was never able to provide. 

Hayter, from Hudson Bay, Sask., initially said he was being paid under the table, Crown prosecutor Darren Howarth said. That prompted an internal investigation that soon grew to include the RCMP.

Hayter, 69, was found guilty of fraud over $5,000 in Melfort Court of Queen’s Bench last week for defrauding the WCB of $137,377.76. Spokeswoman Heather Getz confirmed it is the largest WCB fraud the province has ever seen. 

Howarth said Hayter was convicted of filing two false claims and returning to work while receiving benefits between 2006 and 2011. He was sentenced to two and a half years in jail and must pay back the full amount. 

During his trial earlier this month, Hayter claimed he was a labourer in the forestry industry for a company called Akosane Holding, Howarth said. However, the court ruled that his relationship with the company resembled that of an owner/operator — not a mere employee — and that he was not earning a salary or wage. 

Howarth said the court also found that Hayter was involved with a sports bar during the time he filed WCB claims. The judge’s ruling stated that “a reasonably decent person would consider it dishonest and unscrupulous” for Hayter to also collect wage loss benefits and advise the WBC that he couldn’t work because of an elbow and knee injury. 

Although there was no evidence Hayter was being paid, RCMP officers said he was running the bar every time they visited, and several witnesses believed he was the owner, Howarth noted. 

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A Saskatoon man has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing his son and stepdaughter while they were both under 16 years old. 

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims, was found guilty of assaulting and sexually assaulting his son over a four-month period and sexually assaulting his stepdaughter from age nine to 14.

“A sentence for serious crimes must reflect society’s concerns respecting the prevalence of violence upon children and sexual violations of individuals under 18 by parental figures in positions of trust and authority,” Justice Murray Acton said before sentencing the man in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench. 

The Crown argued for a seven-year sentence while the defence argued for a sentence of four to five years. Although Acton agreed the sentence should equal seven years, the totality principle, which requires the court to craft a global sentence that is not considered “excessive” when dealing with multiple offences, brought the sentence down to five years. 

In his decision, Acton noted the offender was never physically or sexually abused as a child and has no apparent mental health issues “that could explain (his) conduct or diminish (his) responsibility.” However, his young victims will be psychologically scarred for the rest of their lives, Acton said. 

He found the only mitigating factors in the case are that the man, now 40, has a minimal prior criminal record and has been sober since 2014. The aggravating factors are that the victims were children under his care.

Court heard the man would rape his stepdaughter while her mother, who suffered from chronic pain, was bedridden. His son now worries he might inherit a “genetic propensity” for sexual abuse.

“He is afraid to have a family for fear of the harm he may cause to them as a result of your actions,” Acton wrote in his decision. 

He indicated the process of having to testify against their father and stepfather left the victims too emotionally drained to give impact statements. 

While the average sexual assault sentence in Saskatchewan is three years, the Court of Appeal has set the appropriate starting point for child sexual assaults at four years, the decision states.

The offender is required to provide a DNA sample and will be on the sex offender registry for life.

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According to his lawyer, Steven Douglas James Mychan was a “meth head” living in a “meth house” when he trafficked an SKS rifle to a man who was under police surveillance.

Police were watching Noel Harder — a member of the Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club at the time — as part of a drug and gun investigation called Project Forseti. Mychan was photographed giving the gun to Harder in a back alley in Saskatoon on March 28, 2014, court heard during Mychan’s sentencing hearing on Friday. 

Minutes later, police pulled Harder over and discovered nine guns hidden under a tarp in the back of his truck. One was the rifle from Mychan, federal Crown prosecutor Lynn Hintz said. 

Harder became a police agent for Project Forseti in September 2014 and told police that Mychan was paying off a drug debt with the gun, court heard. Harder’s gun charges were dropped in exchange for his work with police. 

Mychan, 44, pleaded guilty in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench to unlawfully transferring a firearm. Justice Mona Dovell accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence, imposing a one-year jail sentence consecutive to the two-year sentence he is currently serving on separate gun and drug charges. 

Mychan’s motivation to get clean and live a better life is his young son, who was abandoned by his drug-addicted mother, defence lawyer George Combe said. He told court Mychan has taken substance abuse and cognitive skills programs while in jail and has shown a massive change in his attitude and behaviour. 

He regrets every day he took drugs because it has prevented him from holding his son, Combe said.

It’s alleged Harder went to Mychan’s house after picking up guns from Clint James McLaughlin earlier that day. McLaughlin pleaded not guilty to 17 charges pertaining to the eight other guns found in Harder’s truck. A decision in his trial is expected next month. 

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Related

• Police agent's credibility questioned during closing arguments at Project Forseti gun trial

Two members of the Fallen Saints Motorcycle Club have pleaded guilty to organized crime charges laid in 2015 following an investigation targeting the Fallen Saints and Hells Angels.

On Friday, Ryan William Hillman and Armand Leigh Hounjet pleaded guilty to participating in an assault on Travis Miles for the purpose of enhancing a criminal organization. Court has heard Miles was an affiliate member of the Fallen Saints who was beaten as part of a “disciplinary matter” for lying. 

Ryan William Hillman

Hounjet pleaded guilty to an additional charge of recruitment to a criminal organization in Saskatoon and Prince Albert between November 2014 and January 2015.

Through their guilty pleas, the men have admitted the Fallen Saints was a criminal organization of which they were members. Sentencing hearings are scheduled to take place on Aug. 17. 

Layne Joseph James Boorman was sentenced last month to a year in jail for participating in a criminal organization. In March, Justin Murray Smith received a four-year sentence for participation in a criminal organization and recruitment to a criminal organization. Both men pleaded guilty to the charges. 

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Related

• Fallen Saints member gets one-year sentence for criminal organization offence
• Project Forseti: Fallen Saints member Justin Smith sentenced to 18 years in prison on drugs, organized crime charges
• Fallen Saints marijuana dealing 'boss' sentenced to 3.5 years in prison
• Criminal organization charges laid in Project Forseti

Warning: disturbing content

A woman who was sexually assaulted as a child says she still has to lock her bedroom door — even though she lives with her partner and child. 

During the 10 years it took police to find the man who assaulted her, she would constantly worry about where he was, she said Monday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.

“He would haunt me in my dreams like a ghost that would never go away.” 

The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, detailed the lasting, traumatic effects of her experience at the sentencing hearing of Terry William McCullough, who pleaded guilty last month to sexual interference and sexual assault. A sentencing decision has been scheduled for June 15. 

Between December 2004 and June 2005, McCullough rented a room in a Saskatoon house where the girl lived when she was eight years old. When she told her family members that he had been touching her genitals, they warned McCullough to stay away from their kids, Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss told court, reading from an agreed statement of facts. 

Sometime later, the girl described waking up to a “wet feeling” and seeing McCullough at the side of her bed licking her genitals, Bliss said. The victim told family members what happened and McCullough was eventually kicked out of the house, court heard.

Bliss argued for a four-year federal penitentiary sentence, arguing sexual assaults against children should warrant higher sentences than the same act against an adult. He said McCullough’s actions constitute a “major sexual assault” because he touched the girl multiple times and would have known the emotional and psychological injuries it would likely cause.

His previous sexual offences, committed against a girlfriend’s six-year-old daughter in the early ’90s, are “extremely aggravating,” Bliss said. He cited other aggravating factors, such as the fact that the assault involved a child victim. 

Defence lawyer Michael Nolin argued that aggravating factors in offences against children were not part of the Criminal Code when the offences were committed in 2005 and therefore would not apply. He said a provincial jail sentence of between one and two years less a day would be appropriate. 

McCullough was interviewed after the victim went to police in 2005, but he left Saskatoon before any charges were laid. Police were unable to locate him until 2015, after a province-wide arrest warrant was changed to a Canada-wide warrant. 

Nolin said his client was not running away or hiding out because he was never told he had to attend a second police interview and wasn’t facing any charges at the time. 

McCullough was intoxicated when the assaults happened and although alcohol has eroded his memory, he sees no reason why the victim would be lying, Nolin said. 

“I can’t imagine what she has been going through,” McCullough told Justice Allisen Rothery before breaking down in tears. “My behaviour is inexcusable and I am truly sorry.”

Court heard McCullough was also sexually assaulted as a child. Bliss said it’s unfortunate he didn’t find a way to deal with his trauma and stop the cycle of abuse. 

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Related

• Man pleads guilty to historical child sex assault after delay application dismissed

MELFORT — Family members of three Carrot River teens killed in a construction zone crash near Spalding, Sask. sobbed as they heard the boys’ names read out in Melfort Court of Queen’s Bench on Tuesday.

An emotional tension filled the courtroom as Normand Mark Joseph Lavoie pleaded guilty to three counts of dangerous driving causing the deaths of 14-year-old Justin Gaja, 15-year-old Kristian Skalicky and 17-year-old Carter Stevenson. 

Normand Lavoie leaves Melfort Court of Queen’s Bench on May 30, 2017. (Bre McAdam/Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

The boys were returning home from football camp on May 3, 2015 when a semi rear-ended their car while they were stopped in a construction zone on Highway 6. The force of the crash also injured Sam Fetherston, a construction worker from B.C., for which Lavoie pleaded guilty to a fourth charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

The truck driver from Winnipeg was scheduled to stand trial in June on charges of criminal negligence causing death, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The maximum sentence for dangerous driving causing death is 14 years. 

Defence lawyer Michael Nolin requested a pre-sentence report for Lavoie, focusing on possible addictions and health issues. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 22, when an agreed statement of facts is expected to be presented. 

Lavoie was not held in custody while awaiting sentencing. 

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Related

• Charges laid in crash that killed three Carrot River teens

Jeffery Longman wonders how many more times he will have to sit in court before the girl who pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his grandson will be sentenced.

The sentencing hearing for the teen, who was 16 years old last July when she was charged in connection with the death of six-week old Nikosis Jace Cantre, had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday. However, last week, the Crown and defence consented to adjourn the hearing because appointments had been set during that time for the teen to have a fetal alcohol syndrome assessment. A new sentencing hearing date was supposed to be chosen that day instead.

In Saskatoon provincial court on Tuesday, Longman watched as legal aid lawyer Cathy Bohachik sought and was granted leave to withdraw as the girl’s lawyer. The case was adjourned to June 29, at which time the Crown indicated a new sentencing hearing date will be set.

“These are just delays to prolong, prolong, prolong it,” Longman said outside court.

“How much longer do we have to wait and suffer the pain, the hurt, the frustrations? It’s a very tragic thing that happened to me and my family.”

On July 3, 2016, baby Nikosis was found unresponsive in a home on Waterloo Crescent in Saskatoon and was pronounced dead at Royal University Hospital. Family members have said a girl who was wandering the streets was invited into their home the previous morning. The teen, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was charged with second-degree murder.

She pleaded guilty to the charge in October and has made around half a dozen court appearances since then. The case was brought forward in April for the defence to request a neurological report, but the sentencing hearing date remained unchanged. This is the first time the sentencing hearing itself has been adjourned.

Bohachik indicated that her former client will be represented by defence lawyer Leslie Sullivan.

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A Saskatchewan RCMP officer who hit, tackled and choked a 19-year-old man suspected of breaking into vehicles in Warman last year “was not fit for duty that evening,” his lawyer says. 

Cpl. Dean Flaman, 46, was charged with assault in August 2016 following the early-morning incident on Feb. 24, 2016. He pleaded guilty to the charge in April. 

On Tuesday, defence lawyer Brad Mitchell argued for a conditional discharge — meaning Flaman would not have a criminal record as long as he abides by certain conditions. Crown prosecutor Bill Burge did not argue for a specific sentence but said any type of discharge would be “contrary to the public interest.”

The violence Flaman used was “gratuitous” considering there was no need for any use of force, Burge said during Flaman’s sentencing hearing in Saskatoon provincial court. He recounted how another officer, Const. Bill Rowley, said he was in the process of arresting Trent Blackbird when Flaman, who had been dealing with another teen, ran over and yelled “What are you doing stealing in my town?”

Flaman then punched Blackbird twice in the face and slammed him against a window before putting him in a chokehold until Blackbird was “gasping for air,” according to Rowley. 

Burge said Rowley told Flaman “I got this Dean,” but Flaman pulled Blackbird out of the police car and threw him against the open door. Both men fell to the ground; Flaman was on top and pushed Blackbird’s head into the snow, court heard. 

Flaman mistakenly thought Rowley needed help, Mitchell told court. He called the assault a “misunderstanding and over-reaction” that happened after Flaman had recently attended two traumatic calls.

One was a horrific car crash in which two children were killed. In the other incident, just 45 minutes before responding to the report of people breaking into vehicles in Warman, Flaman witnessed a teen shoot himself in the head, court heard. 

“He snapped,” Mitchell said, noting there was no opportunity for counselling or chance for Flaman to decompress. 

Citing letters of support, he said Flaman, a 16-year RCMP member, is a “role model” police officer who is “highly respected” by members of the communities he serves. Mitchell argued the public is better served when a “good” officer is punished through conditions like community service while being able to keep his job.

According to the RCMP, a conviction would not result in an automatic job loss, Burge said.

A sentencing decision is expected Wednesday. 

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Related

• Sask. RCMP officer pleads guilty to one count of assault while on-duty

There will be no criminal record for a Saskatchewan RCMP officer who hit a man in the face, slammed him against a police car and choked him during an arrest in Warman last year.

On Wednesday, Cpl. Dean Flaman received a conditional discharge, meaning he won’t have a criminal record if he abides by court-ordered conditions for 12 months. Those conditions include 250 hours of community service and apologizing to the victim — 19-year-old Trent Blackbird.

Flaman, 46, pleaded guilty to assaulting Blackbird in the early morning of Feb. 24, 2016. Court heard it happened while another officer, Const. Bill Rowley, was about to handcuff Blackbird for allegedly breaking into vehicles.

According to Rowley, Flaman yelled “What the (expletive) are you doing in my (expletive) town?” before punching Blackbird twice in the face. Flaman continued to push and slam Blackbird, whose pants had fallen down and were acting like “shackles” during the assault. 

Court exhibit photo of the injuries 19-year-old Trent Blackbird sustained after he was assaulted by Cpl. Dean Flaman during an arrest in Warman on Feb. 24, 2016.

Flaman thought Rowley needed his help and hit the man once with an open hand before putting him in a chokehold that he admitted was “excessive,” defence lawyer Brad Mitchell said. 

Crown prosecutor Bill Burge argued Flaman should have a criminal record because he was in a position of trust and any use of force was unnecessary considering another officer was handling the situation. 

However, Burge did not argue for a jail sentence.

“The options did include, legally, jail. In his situation, I guess given his previous good character and support he had from the community, it seemed to me not to be a realistic option for the court,” Burge said following the sentencing decision.

Judge Stephen Carter ruled a conditional discharge is proportionate to the offence and degree of responsibility and not contrary to the public interest. 

Flaman, a 16-year RCMP member, was suspended with pay after he was charged in August 2016. He was reinstated in April after receiving internal discipline that included a two-week suspension without pay, a written reprimand that will go on his professional record and the inability to apply for a promotion for at least two years, court heard.

Mitchell argued it would be more likely that Flaman would keep his job if he received a conditional discharge. 

“He should keep his job. I think it’s pretty clear from the letters of support and the facts of this case that this was an isolated incident. This is a good police officer who had a day that I don’t think anyone would deal with very well and led to him acting the way he did that night.”

A psychological report determined Flaman’s actions were linked to past family violence and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

During Tuesday’s sentencing arguments, Mitchell said his client had dealt with two extremely traumatic incidents in the days leading up to the assault. One was a horrific car crash and the other involved Flaman witnessing a suicide just 45 minutes before heading out to Warman. 

Mitchell said officers are usually given an opportunity to debrief after a serious incident. He’s not sure why that didn’t happen in this case. 

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Related

• 'He snapped': Sask. RCMP officer who assaulted teen during arrest 'was not fit for duty' that day, says defence