Yellowknife (Jun 30/06) - Crown counsel will seek a jail sentence after a suspended Yellowknife lawyer was convicted Wednesday of molesting a girl in the early 1980s.

This is the second time Charles McGee, 54, was convicted of indecent assault on a youth under 16 years of age. The first conviction came in September 2004, when McGee was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault against two girls in 1974. He is still serving part of his conditional sentence in connection to that conviction.

After the new verdict was delivered Wednesday in NWT Supreme Court, McGee and his family declined to comment, as did the victim.

A woman involved in the 2004 trial said she was happy with the verdict. She wasn't allowed to testify in this new case.

"I think he deserves it," said the woman.

Crown attorney Dennis Claxton said he was "satisfied" with the judgment.

"The Crown will be seeking a term of two years or more in a federal penitentiary," said Claxton.

McGee will be sentenced Oct. 24. The trial began June 7 and was heard by Toronto judge Lucien A. Beaulieu.

McGee was accused of molesting a girl, who was between seven- and nine-years-old at the time, three times during sleepovers held between Sept. 1, 1980 and April 3, 1982.

The judge said he did not believe McGee's testimony that he had not touched the girl in a sexual manner.

McGee admitted in court that he was sexually attracted to young girls and that it his "thing" in the past.

"It is fair to say he had an interest in pre-pubescent female children, a sexual interest," said Beaulieu.

In delivering the verdict, the judge cited two explicit nude photos of the victim as proof that the victim had been in the McGee home several times.

During the trial, there was testimony that the victim had only visited the home rarely and that she never slept over at the McGee home, evidence the judge discounted.

Beaulieu said he took the victim's age into consideration and the difficulties of remembering events almost 25 years ago.

The judge said he had to be careful to look at this case impartially to protect the credibility of the court, but believed the testimony of the victim because of "the harmony" of the description she gave of the 1980s McGee residence when compared to the floor plan of the house.

He said the victim also had very clear memories of the "bright yellow room and cubby hole" in a bedroom where she said she was sleeping.

Beaulieu said the maximum sentence for this crime is five years in prison.

McGee will remain in the community until sentencing, despite a Crown request that he be jailed. The judge ruled McGee has lived up to the terms of his present sentence, which includes not leaving his home between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. There are some exceptions that allow McGee to leave his home during those times.

He was also ordered to perform community service at the time and McGee's lawyer Robert Davidson said McGee continues to volunteer at the Salvation Army and Centre for Northern Families.

He has been suspended from practising law by the Law Society of the Northwest Territories until he has served his full sentence of two years plus a day.

There is no word whether McGee will appeal the verdict.