N.S. man who abused underage stepdaughter sentenced to 9 years

A 49-year-old Halifax man who admitted to sexually abusing his underage stepdaughter over a period of several years has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

However, the man is getting credit of more than 1,000 days for the time he spent in custody while the case made its way through the court.

Justice Peter Rosinski of Nova Scotia Supreme Court sentenced the man Friday morning. The man's identity is being withheld to protect his victim from further harm.

During sentencing arguments earlier this month, court was told the abuse started in 2013 when the girl was 13. It continued until 2018, when the girl and her mother reported it to the RCMP.

The man entered guilty pleas on what was supposed to be the first day of his trial. The charges include sexual interference, sexual exploitation and making child pornography.

Deleted images

Police found 585 deleted images of child pornography on a device they seized.

Rosinski said at sentencing that most of those images were of the stepdaughter. He ordered all devices to be forfeited, unless the man unlocks them to allow for a police search to determine there are no more compromising images on them.

The young woman and her mother were in the courtroom for the sentencing. The judge applauded them for the courage they displayed throughout this case.

"Nothing I can do, sentencing Mr. XXXX can really restore your lives to where they were before these things happened," Rosinski said.

The judge also spoke to the man before he was led from the courtroom by sheriff'sdeputies.

"If you can dedicate your resources, and I know you have the discipline to do it, dedicate yourself to repairing the flaws which you have that led you to commit these criminal offences, I know you can do it and I think you will be motivated to do so."