NWT man sentenced to 28 months for sexual assault, voyeurism

An NWT Supreme Court justice has sentenced a 40-year-old man to two years in prison for sexual assault followed by four months for voyeurism.

Justin Minute was convicted of the charges following trial in August.

Justice Karin Taylor had found Minute guilty of trying to record a girl in a bathroom with his phone on two occasions and, on a third occasion while she was sleeping, pulling down her underwear and masturbating over the bed.

The girl was aged 13 to 14 at the time of the incidents. Any information that could identify her is protected by a publication ban.

In a Yellowknife courtroom on Monday morning, Justice Taylor sentenced Minute to a total of 28 months in prison for the charges.

With credit for time served in pre-sentencing custody, Minute has 27 months and one week of that sentence left to serve.

During a sentencing hearing earlier this month, Crown prosecutor Morgan Fane had argued Minute should be sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for the charges.

Minute’s lawyer Evan McIntyre argued that would be “excessive.” He proposed his client be sentenced instead to two years less a day in jail followed by 18 months’ probation.

In sentencing Minute on Monday, Justice Taylor agreed the unique circumstances of Minute’s offences did not warrant a four-year sentence. She did not, however, believe a sentence of two years less a day was adequate.

Taylor said Minute’s actions were very serious and had caused immeasurable harm to the victim and her family.

In determining a fit sentence, Taylor said she considered Minute’s likelihood of reoffending, the duration and frequency of the abuse, the age of the victim, the degree of physical interference and that Minute was in a position of trust or authority.

Taylor said she also considered other factors to varying degrees, such as the fact the sexual assault occurred while the victim was sleeping, Minute has no criminal record, his expression of remorse for the harm he has caused, and the loss of his career as a former case manager at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River.

“I wish you luck, Mr Minute,” the judge said in closing.

Minute will have to remain on the National Sex Offender Registry for 20 years and, once released from prison, will be prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years.

He will also be required to pay a $400 victim of crime surcharge within 60 days.

That sum will go to the NWT’s victim assistance fund, which supports community-based projects and activities that benefit victims of crime.