Sentence too severe says lawyer
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Oct 30/00) - Convicted sex offender Ed Horne is appealing his five year sentence.
Justice Virginia Schuler sentenced Horne to five years in prison in September after he pleaded guilty to 20 of the 72 sex-related charges he faced.
Horne also spent 17-months in custody awaiting trial.
While many Nunavut residents felt Schuler's sentence was too lenient, Jim Brydon, Horne's lawyer, said the judge was too harsh.
In a notice of appeal filed in Yellowknife. Brydon said that the judge failed to consider the six years Horne had previously served on other sex-related charges.
The appeal notice said the latest sentence was excessive, and disproportionate to the harm actually suffered by Horne's victims.
Richard Meredith, the crown lawyer who prosecuted Horne, said "based on what (Brydon) suggested, they want something in the two year range."
Meredith said the matter would likely be addressed during the next sitting of assignment on Nov.2, although it might have to wait until Dec.7.
Brydon did not return calls to News/North.
Horne committed the sex crimes between 1975 and 1983 when he worked as a teacher and principal in Sanikiluaq, Cape Dorset and Iqaluit.
