A 64-year-old man who sexually abused 18 boys he had lured and groomed with alcohol, drugs, pornography and gifts has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.
Douglas Harold Patrick, a former Lambton County resident, pled guilty in December to more than 50 sexual offences and was sentenced Monday in Sarnia court.
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The abuse, covering more than seven years in Lambton during the 1980s, included Patrick masturbating boys, and performing oral sex and anal intercourse with boys. They performed the same sex acts on him.
“It is abundantly clear his actions were planned and deliberate,” said assistant Crown attorney Randy Evans during a prior sentencing hearing.
A pre-sentence report and psychiatric assessment stated Patrick admitted a sexual attraction to boys at the time of the offences, but no longer felt that way.
Patrick denied being a pedophile, but the psychiatrist’s report indicated pedophilia never leaves a person.
Neither report indicates a risk of repeat offences and no charges have been laid during the past 20 years, said defence lawyer Ken Marley.
Patrick has not lived in Sarnia for more than 10 years.
Patrick told the court he takes responsibility for his offences and wants to apologize.
The abuse was done in secret and the boys were left feeling guilty and embarrassed, said Evans. So the abuse was not disclosed until much later in their lives, he said.
As boys grew older, Patrick stopped abusing them, instead seeking out new, younger victims. Some boys were abused once or twice; one was subjected to abuse 100 times.
Patrick’s acts of depravity hit the boys like a tsunami, said Justice Mark Hornblower.
Some of the victims had never spoken of the abuse until they were contacted by police during an eight-month investigation that ended in 2011.
During a preliminary hearing a victim testified he thought Patrick’s actions were wrong, but he wanted gifts Patrick offered like knives, flags, beer and drugs.
One man said, in a victim impact statement read to the court, he’s struggled with the abuse for more than 30 years, in nightmares unable to get rid of Patrick the “demon.”
At one point he attempted suicide.
The impact is shared by victims, their families and the community because some victims’ substance abuse and criminal activity is rooted in the abuse, said Hornblower.
During a prior court appearance, after listening to 45 of Patrick’s charges, a victim’s family member shouted he couldn’t hear anymore and charged the prisoner’s box.
He was stopped by court security and police officers before reaching Patrick.For sentencing, Hornblower referred to a higher court decision stating sexual predators must know they will pay a heavy price.
Patrick’s jail time includes one year of pre-sentence custody.
He will be on the sex offender registry for 20 years and a lifetime ban on his attendance at parks, playgrounds and schoolyards was imposed.
In his impact statement, one victim said he hopes knowing Patrick will be somewhere he can’t hurt anyone else,will give him (the victim) peace of mind.
