A Huntsville man is facing four months jail time after pleading guilty to charges of sexual interference and indecent exposure, which he committed against a 3-1/2-year-old girl.

In Huntsville court last week, Judge John Evans presented the sentence to 46-year-old Andrew McNeil. Evans also ordered that McNeil serve a three-year probation order, that he be placed on the National Sex Offenders Registry for 10 years and provide a blood sample to the Huntsville OPP detachment for DNA analysis. When considering the sentencing, Evans took into account the five days McNeil served in jail while in pre-trial custody.

“In these cases, remorse is a big factor in sentencing the accused,” said John Sharkey, lawyer for the accused. “When he spoke to the police, he was reluctant to at first, but then confessed to the crimes.”

McNeil alleged that only two incidents occurred with the young girl.

Court heard that McNeil had grown up in northern Ontario and had no other previous charges or convictions relating to the offence.

Sharkey stated that when McNeil spoke of his home life in Huntsville, it became clear that it “is a home that has stress.” He suffers from diabetes and depression, both of which he takes medication for, court heard. McNeil’s wife is on a disability pension.

“It appears as though there’s some co-dependency between the two,” said Sharkey. McNeil and his wife have a 12-year-old son who “is a handful,” he added.

Although he suffers from depression, McNeil said in a previous statement to the court, he was not on medication at the time he committed the sexual offences.

“He believes it might have had an effect on his behaviour,” said Sharkey. “His wife’s reaction (to the conviction) was shock.”

Noting that he is underemployed, Sharkey continued to explain that McNeil lost his job as a school bus driver upon being charged. He was “financially strapped, but managing,” Sharkey said.

The offences did not occur while McNeil was on the job, court heard.

Sharkey said the victim-impact statement recognized the parents of the girl as being concerned.

“In the broad spectrum, it is lower in the realms of possible harms,” said Sharkey. “There was not a long period of grooming.” Some sexual predators will groom a child to be a victim for an extended period of time.

Provincial Crown attorney Christine McGoey indicated that, while the two offences McNeil was facing jail time for were of the same nature, the bottom line is that they involved sexual behaviour with a young child.

“We’re never going to figure out what happened,” she said regarding how many times McNeil exposed himself to the child. “This is a very serious offence. A 3-1/2-year-old in his care should be able to trust him.”

Calling the victim-impact statement one of the most “insightful and eloquent” she had ever seen, McGoey went on to say that McNeil’s actions have not only had an effect on the child but on the parents as well. She said the parents have a lack of trust in caregivers, and the sexual touching of children leaves them with damaged views on adults and sexuality.

“You hope resiliency deals with it,” said McGoey. “(The parents) are doing everything they can to get counselling for their daughter. It’s cognitive distortion to say he was satisfying a kid’s curiosity. It’s more than stupid behaviour.”

McNeil apologized to Evans and the community for the trouble he caused but did not acknowledge the victim’s family.

When handing down the sentencing, Evans said that such an offence is always serious due to the vulnerable nature of children. He added that the fact that the crime was committed by a person in trust makes it even more serious.