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The 5½-year prison term a Lethbridge man is serving for sexually abusing his stepdaughter can’t save him from paying child and spousal support, a judge has ruled.
In a written decision posted online, Lethbridge Court of King’s Bench Justice Shelley Moore said the unnamed father is still on the hook for $10,000 a month to his ex-wife.
Moore noted the father was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2022, after earning significant income in the three years leading up to his incarceration. He stopped making child support payments of $7,000 and spousal support of $3,000 per month in March 2023.
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His income in 2020 was $647,422, in 2021 it was $648,403, and while he had not yet filed an income tax return for 2022, his T4 for that year showed income of $573,475.51 as well as three other deposits totaling $920,358, Moore noted.
“The father went from being employed on a full-time basis and earning a significant salary to not being employed, due to imprisonment, and therefore not earning an income,” Moore wrote.
“However, this was not an involuntary act on the part of the father. He deliberately and knowingly engaged in illegal sexual activity with his stepdaughter when she was between the ages of 12-17 years old, which escalated to full sexual penetration by the time she was 14.
“The father lost his employment because he went to jail for his continuous illegal behaviour over the course of five-plus years.”
Moore said she had serious concerns about the father’s credibility and the insufficient financial disclosure by him and “an inability to track a significant amount of money being moved out of accounts.”
“I can easily accept that the father has not worked since his incarceration and his earnings have certainly decreased. I cannot, however, conclude that the reduction of his income was not one of choice,” she said.
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“The conduct which resulted in his incarceration, and corresponding unemployment and loss of income was voluntarily undertaken by him. The commission of an offence by the payor against a child should not relieve the payor of their obligations regarding other recipients.”
Moore noted courts in the past have found criminal conduct doesn’t exonerate spouses from any financial obligations to their ex-partners.
“The court notes that even though the father did not commit the offences to avoid his obligations, it could not condone his conduct,” she said.
“The father is the author of his own destiny. He carried out this illegal activity for years. That does not allow him an excuse to avoid his support obligations.”
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