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Abstract: Transcript of the Oral Reasons for Sentence
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R. v. Amos, 2006 NWTSC 40 S-1-CR-2006000018 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - and - RICKY AMOS aka RICKY TUMMA _____________________________________________________ Transcript of the Oral Reasons for Sentence delivered by the Honourable Justice J.E. Richard, sitting at Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, on August 3rd, A.D. 2006. _____________________________________________________ BAN ON PUBLICATION OF COMPLAINANT/WITNESS PURSUANT TO SECTION 486 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE APPEARANCES: Ms. S. Smallwood: Counsel for the Crown Mr. T. Boyd: Counsel for the Accused (Charge under s. 271 Criminal Code) Official Court Reporters 1 THE COURT: The offender has pleaded 2 guilty to sexually assaulting a young girl seven 3 years ago in Inuvik. The victim was eight years 4 old at the time. She was, at the time, the 5 daughter of a woman with whom this offender was 6 in an on-again/off-again intimate relationship. 7 The sexual assault amounted to touching the 8 vaginal area of the eight-year-old child either 9 over her clothing or beneath her clothing. The 10 sexual assault occurred in 1999. The victim did 11 not tell anyone about the assault because she, in 12 her words, tried to ignore it or forget about it. 13 She was concerned that people would not believe 14 her and she was also concerned that if she told 15 her mother what had happened that her mother 16 would get mad at her. But in July, 2004, around 17 the time when her mother broke up with this 18 offender for the last or final time, she 19 disclosed the sexual assault to her mother and 20 the next day she told the police. 21 The police contacted the offender in 22 November, 2004, and, by his own evidence, he 23 initially denied to the police that he had done 24 anything wrong. For some reason, the charge was 25 not laid until August, 2005. The offender 26 shortly thereafter made a confession to the 27 police and also wrote a letter of apology to the Official Court Reporters 1 1 victim and her mother. However, presumably 2 because he disputed some of the precise details 3 being alleged by the victim, when he appeared in 4 court he elected trial by Judge and jury. 5 After several attempts to set the matter 6 down for Preliminary Inquiry in Territorial 7 Court, the offender appeared in Territorial Court 8 in March, 2006 and waived his right to a 9 Preliminary Inquiry, and thereafter he was to 10 proceed directly to jury trial in this court. 11 Yesterday, August the 2nd, 2006, he appeared in 12 this court and re-elected to Judge alone and 13 pleaded guilty to the charge of sexual assault. 14 I set out this background to the attendance 15 by the offender in this court today to point out 16 that there has been considerable delay in getting 17 this matter before the court for disposition. 18 Also, with this background, it cannot be said 19 that Ricky Amos' guilty plea is an early guilty 20 plea. The very brief hearing which took place in 21 this court yesterday on the disputed facts could 22 have readily occurred many months ago in either 23 court. 24 In any event, the offender has pleaded 25 guilty, has expressed remorse and has apologized 26 to the victim and her mother, and all of that 27 does act in mitigation of sentence. It is just Official Court Reporters 2 1 that, obviously, it is not the same level of 2 mitigation as if these initiatives of the 3 offender had happened on a more timely basis. 4 Ricky Amos' crime is considered by our 5 society to be a serious one, as it involves the 6 sexual abuse of a child. This offence is 7 punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. The 8 fact that the victim of a sexual assault is a 9 child is deemed by the law to be an aggravating 10 circumstance. The previous case law, and now 11 Parliament, has directed that when a Judge is 12 sentencing an offender for a crime involving the 13 abuse of a child the primary consideration is to 14 be the two objectives of denunciation and 15 deterrence of this kind of criminal behaviour. 16 The offender is a mature man of 42 years of 17 age, of Aboriginal descent, a life-long resident 18 of the Inuvik region. He has a grade 12 19 education and is fairly articulate or 20 well-spoken. In recent years he has had seasonal 21 employment with the Public Works Division of the 22 Municipality of Inuvik. He admits to being a 23 life-long alcoholic and says that he has recently 24 taken treatment programs to deal with his 25 alcoholism. 26 He has an extensive criminal record. Most 27 of that criminal record was accumulated during Official Court Reporters 3 1 the early years of his life. He has four 2 convictions for crimes of violence, one of which 3 was a conviction for sexual assault in 1986. I 4 note from the entries on his criminal record that 5 at the time of committing the present offence in 6 1999 he would have recently completed a 12-month 7 period of probation following an assault 8 conviction in 1998. 9 Mr. Amos' previous criminal record is an 10 important consideration in the determination of 11 sentence in the sense that he is not a person who 12 is coming before the Court with an unblemished 13 past to be sentenced for a once in a lifetime 14 momentary lapse in judgment. 15 It is an aggravating circumstance in the 16 determination of an appropriate sentence that 17 Mr. Amos was in a position of trust vis-Ã -vis 18 this young child at the time of the commission of 19 this crime. He violated that trust by his own 20 admission in the letter that he wrote to the 21 victim and her mother some six years after the 22 event and after he had been charged with the 23 crime. 24 Although this incident occurred seven years 25 ago, it must be remembered that at the time the 26 offender was 36 years old and his victim was 27 eight years old. She and her mother were Official Court Reporters 4 1 entitled to expect that she would be safe when 2 alone with him in his apartment. 3 In all of the circumstances, I find that a 4 denunciatory sentence of imprisonment is required 5 in this case. Please stand, Mr. Amos. Ricky 6 Amos, for the crime that you have committed, 7 sexual assault contrary to section 271 of the 8 Criminal Code, it is the sentence of this Court 9 that you be imprisoned for a period of ten 10 months. 11 In addition, I grant the three orders sought 12 by the Crown; that is, the firearms prohibition 13 order for a period of ten years, the DNA order 14 and the order under the Sex Offender Information 15 Registration Act for a period of 20 years. 16 In the circumstances, there will be no 17 victim fine surcharge. You may be seated. Is 18 there anything further on this case, counsel? 19 MS. SMALLWOOD: Nothing, Your Honour. 20 MR. BOYD: Not from defence, Your Honour. 21 THE COURT: Thank you. We will adjourn 22 court till 10:00. 23 Certified to be a true and accurate transcript pursuant 24 to Rules 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules. 25 26 ______________________________ 27 Jill MacDonald, CSR(A), RPR Court Reporter Official Court Reporters 5
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