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Crown drops appeal

Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 26/05) - The Crown attorney's office has dropped its appeal of a house arrest sentence for a man convicted of molesting his daughter for nearly a decade.

The man - who was found guilty of invitation to sexual touching and assault on June 30 of last year - also dropped his appeal of the conviction.

Without being precise, Crown attorney Sadie Bond said Wednesday that "there are many factors" that affected the decision.

The man, whose identity cannot be revealed because of a court-ordered publication ban, was convicted of molesting his daughter between 1992 and 2000. The abuse left the girl mentally ill and suicidal, according to court documents.

"I am having bad dreams. I am not eating or sleeping very well since this happened. (The abuse) made me scared and sad," she wrote in a victim impact statement.

During the June trial, the Crown's office asked for a three to five year jail term, but a judge decided instead to impose a two-year conditional sentence, allowing the man to live at home and keep his job with the territorial government.

The house arrest sentence drew criticism from Arlene Hache, the head of the Centre for Northern Families, who called the sentence "a miscarriage of justice."

"Isn't that nice. He'll get to sit on his lawn and drink lemonade or take in a movie," she said in June. In the original notice of appeal, the Crown's office said the sentence was "demonstrably unfit."