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Babysitter molests young girl

Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 11/05) - A teenaged babysitter described as quiet and reclusive was sentenced to eight months in jail Wednesday for molesting a five-year-old girl.

Jonathan Goulet, 19, admitted to fondling the young victim for nearly 15 minutes in his Ndilo home last May while her parents were out celebrating their wedding anniversary.

"Mr. Goulet was someone (she) should have looked to for security," said territorial court judge Bernadette Schmaltz.

"The unquestioning trust of a five-year-old was breached in a horrible way.

"Children who cannot protect themselves will be vigorously protected by the court," she said.

Goulet pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault late last year, but was only sentenced Wednesday - nearly nine months after the May 22, 2004, attack.

The girl told her mother that Goulet "touched her peepee" that evening.

In court, the parents of the young victim said the molestation caused their daughter to have nightmares, distrust her father and brother and touch herself in ways she had not done before.

"I wonder if our lives will ever go back to normal," said her mother, choking back tears.

"How could you have done this to my baby," the woman asked.

A psychological report described Goulet as shy and reclusive and said he had trouble talking with girls.

The report suggested Goulet was severely delayed in terms of his social and sexual development, a condition that was likely an indication of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

The disease is triggered by the pre-natal exposure to alcohol. Goulet did however graduate from high school in June 2004 and spent the summer working for a Dene band.

Defence lawyer James Mahon argued Goulet should be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest instead of in jail - in part because the report said the teenager could not control his impulses the night of the assault. Schmaltz disagreed with that assessment however, noting the report said Goulet was well aware fondling the girl was "wrong."

"This was the exploitation of a small child. House arrest, even with strict conditions, does not have the same punitive effect as a jail sentence."

In addition to the eight-month jail term, Schmaltz placed Goulet on probation for two years and ordered him to submit his name to the new national sex-offender registry.

The system allows justice officials to track people convicted of a sex crime. Goulet, who must report all address changes to police, is among the first convicts in the territory to be included in the registry. He must also submit a sample of his DNA for police.

In a brief address to the court, Goulet apologized for the assault saying: "I'm really, really sorry for what happened...what I did."

Following the sentencing hearing, Goulet embraced his parents before being led out of the courtroom by an RCMP officer.