Nunavut court: judge sentences violent child sex offender to 9-plus years

After a hearing held July 24 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, Nunavut Justice Robert Kilpatrick could find “no mitigating circumstances” in the sentencing of X for sexual offences against children and a violent physical assault. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

This graph which shows the high rate of sexual offences against children is included in the judgment of Nunavut Justice Robert Kilpatrick in the case of “X.”

James Joanasie Newkingnak, 28, who pleaded guilty to two indictable sexual assaults on children, one count of break and enter to commit an aggravated assault, and one count of breaching an undertaking, has received a sentence of 9.81 years in jail.

But since Newkingnak has been jailed in remand for the past five years, in his judgment, released Aug. 7, Nunavut Justice Robert Kilpatrick said he granted the man a credit of 2,853 days for time already served, leaving a period of two years less a day left to be served in a territorial jail.

In his judgment, Kilpatrick tried to emphasize the severity of Newkingnak’s crimes.

Newkingnak’s sexual offences involved two young girls who were related to him; and a close relative suffered severe head injuries as a result of the aggravated assault.

“The high incidence of sexual offences generally and crimes against children in particular requires a firm response by a sentencing court in Nunavut. The need to emphasize general deterrence through an exemplary sentence is enhanced under these circumstances,” Kilpatrick said.

Kilpatrick found “no mitigating circumstances” in his sentencing of Newkingnak on all the charges he earlier had pleaded guilty to and noted that “by the time Mr. Newkingnak is released from prison he will have spent almost a quarter of his natural life in custody.”

As described in the judgment, the sex charges date to April 30, 2010, when two 10-year old girls, AB and CD, were playing inside a house.

Newkingnak was staying at this house with his parents.

AB and CD entered Newkingnak’s bedroom. The children wanted to play video games.

Newkingnak, then 23, started to fondle AB’s buttocks and vagina over top of her clothing. He attempted to take off AB’s pants.

AB resisted and shouted for help from another adult known to be in the house. “No help came,” the judgment says.

The other adult was asleep. AB ran out of the bedroom leaving CD alone with Newkingnak.

Newkingnak then turned his attention to CD.

“He starts to fondle CD’s vagina and buttocks over top of her clothing. After some time he removes CD’s pants and briefly penetrates the child’s vagina or anus with his penis. There is some bleeding,” the judgment said.

Newkingnak later authors and signs an apology letter to the child victims. This letter says: “I’m sorry about what I did. I apologize. I will never do this again and I will prevent it. I shouldn’t have done that and please forgive me. God bless you all.”

But these sexual assaults are not Newkingnak’s only offences: on the morning of May 23, 2010, Newkingnak was berated by his mother, Kilpatrick said in his judgment.

“What she said triggered some distant memories of being bullied by a cousin, so he went out and attacks him with an axe. The cousin was hit twice in the head, suffering grave head injuries,” he said.

In sentencing for the sexual assaults, Kilpatrick said “the court is unable to identify any mitigating offence characteristics ”

“The deliberate removal of clothing and subsequent penile penetration of the child CD by Mr. Newkingnak propel this particular offence to the highest level of moral culpability,” he said, noting that the victims were scarred by the incident.

The same holds true for the court’s view of breaking and entering to commit aggravated assault charge.

“This was a home invasion. The forced entry into a residence by Mr. Newkingnak was done with the express intention of harming an occupant of the home who was expected to be found inside,” Kilpatrick said.

“The result of this violence was catastrophic. The victim has suffered, and will likely continue to suffer, from the physical and emotional trauma associated with his injuries for years to come. His life will never be the same.”

At a young age, Newkingnak was the victim of a sexual assault, Kilpatrick said in the judgment.

Kilpatrick also noted that a court-ordered evaluation showed X suffers from “a number of cognitive deficits.”

Newkingnak has achieved a Grade 9 education, the evaluation found, but his academic abilities fall well below this grade level. X reads at a Grade 1 level.

For sentence comprehension, Newkingnak scores at a level associated with kindergarten. For spelling he is rated at a level associated with Grade 2.

Newkingnak, who speaks little English, “is the product of an education system that until recently was driven by social promotion and not academic performance,” Kilpatrick notes.

Among the many conditions imposed on Newkingnak: registry as a sexual offender, no contact with the victims, no unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 14 years, and no living (or overnights) at any house in which a child under the age of 14 years is resident.

In his judgment, Kilpatrick recommends that Newkingnak, who has completed various treatment programs in Nunavut jails, be considered for early release to attend the Mamisarvik treatment in Ottawa.

“The court is under no illusion. The treatment needed to address Mr. Newkingnak’s risk of reoffending is not available in Community X.”

2015 NUCJ 22 R v Newkingnak by