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A Niagara man convicted of incest involving his 14-year-old half-sister "dropped an atomic bomb" on their family, a local judge said.
"You have destroyed the young woman who sits here in court today," Judge Cameron Watson told the offender in an Ontario court of justice in Welland on Wednesday.
The man, who cannot be named due to a publication ban imposed to protect the identity of the victim, was sentenced to five years in a penitentiary on charges of incest and sexual interference stemming from incidents that occurred in 2024 and 2025.
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The judge told the offender the details of the offences "demonstrates the depth of depravity you are willing to go to for your own incredibly selfish needs.
"It is difficult to put into words what you did," Watson said. "Nobody will recover from this."
The teen, surrounded by family members, sat in court to hear the sentencing.
"Look at those people ... turn around and look at them," the judge instructed the offender.
"Do you see the grief on their faces, the pain in their souls? Do you see that? That's because of you, nobody else."
He then ordered the offender to turn away from the family. "You don't deserve to look at them any longer," Watson said.
The man told the author of a presentence report, while he accepts responsibility for his actions, he feels the teenager is "equally as guilty as he is."
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The offender said the child was a willing participant and she "exaggerated" the offences when she gave a statement to Niagara Regional Police.
"You are absolutely, categorically, 1,000 per cent wrong in that submission," the judge told him.
"For you to say that, you have a long road in front of you and you had better work on it because you dropped an atomic bomb on your family."
At the time of the offences, court was told, the man struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues.
Following the incidents, he would act like nothing had happened or accuse the teen of initiating the acts.
The judge addressed the victim at the conclusion of the hearing. "You are a very courageous and strong young woman and I hope you can move on from this because you deserve to be able to move on from this."
The man's name will appear on the federal sex offender registry for 20 years.
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