(ORANGEVILLE) The man, who in 30 years as an OPP officer doubtless arrested hundreds of people, held out his hands as two police officers slapped the handcuffs on him before taking him to prison for eight years.
Robert George (Bob) Lewis, 62, his head newly shaved, towered over the officers in an Orangeville courtroom Friday (Nov. 19) after Superior Court Justice Joseph Fragomeni handed down the sentence.
The proceedings began at 11 a.m. and took about 45 minutes in a courtroom packed on one side with several victims and their families and Mr. Lewis’s wife, friends and supporters on the other.
Mr. Lewis, of Fenelon Falls, was convicted last June of 19 of the 23 sex-related charges against him. The offences dated back to the 1970s. He originally faced 25 charges, which stemmed from an investigation by Caledon OPP that began in 2006 and involved 10 male complainants.
Two of the charges were withdrawn at the Crown’s request earlier in the trial. Mr. Lewis was found guilty on counts relating to seven of the 10 men.
During his career with the OPP, Mr. Lewis was posted in Snelgrove (now Caledon), Islington, Minaki, Downsview and Coboconk. He retired in 1997.
Mr. Lewis elected to be tried by judge alone and the trial began in 2009 and ended last March.
A publication ban prevents identifying the victims, who as young boys and teenagers were molested in their homes, places of work and even in Mr. Lewis’s police cruiser.
During the sentencing hearing on Nov. 8, Crown prosecutor Mary Ellen Cullen was asking for 10 to 12 years, while defence counsel Leo Kinahan argued a sentence of about six years would be more appropriate.
At Friday’s hearing, Justice Fragomeni said that in determining the sentence, he referred to evidence in his 213-page judgement, a pre-sentence report, victim impact statements and the 44 letters of support Mr. Lewis’s friends sent to the court.
The judge said the pre-sentence report showed Mr. Lewis had a happy home life as a child, with parents in a stable marriage and an “excellent environment.” But, he noted that the suicides of two brothers (one in 1964 and another in 1994) and the death of a third from cancer in 2007 would be difficult for any family to bear.
Justice Fragomeni also noted Mr. Lewis claimed his marriage to his wife, Carol, is “rock solid.”
He declined to read each of the letters of support and the victim impact statements, choosing instead to highlight some of them. He referred to three letters that described Mr. Lewis’s long service in his community, and his “integrity.” But, looking straight at the convicted child molester, he also referred to victim impact statements that described horrible guilt for not coming forward sooner, a change in perception of law enforcement, and one man’s description of losing everything that mattered to him, including his family and his own self-worth.
Justice Fragomeni reviewed the cases both the Crown and the defence had submitted to support their arguments; cases that had reached the appeals courts for the lengths of sentences the convicted sexual predators received. In those cases, whether or not there was penetration, violence, threats and/or physical bodily harm were factors in sentencing.
But, the judge said he agreed with one of the cases where the deciding judge emphasized that a lack of penetration during sexual assaults, especially of children, “does not relegate them to the lower levels” of seriousness. In Mr. Lewis’s case, Justice Fragomeni said the primary aggravating factor is the breach of trust; not only was he a trusted friend of many of the victims’ families, but he was also a police officer.
Children, he said, are not capable of defending themselves against sexual predators - and those predators know it.
The judge noted he understood Mr. Lewis’s friends’ feelings and opinions of the disgraced former officer. But, he said, when one looks at the evidence in the judgement and the contents of the letters of support, “we’re looking at two different people.”
“The conduct (during the sexual assaults) took place in private, with only Mr. Lewis and his victim present,” the judge said.
Going further, he said that simply because there was no anal penetration or physical violence, does not mean the trauma to the victims’ emotional and psychological well-being did not exist. And, he added, the number of victims, many of whom were assaulted repeatedly over a long period of time, and often while Mr. Lewis was on duty, must be taken into account when sentencing him.
Mr. Lewis’s conduct, the judge said, was “reprehensible” and as a police officer, “disgraceful.”
While he did not hand down the double-digit sentence the Crown wanted, he dismissed the defence’s request to credit Mr. Lewis about nine months since he has been on “very restrictive” bail conditions for four years. Rather, Justice Fragomeni agreed with the Crown’s earlier assertion that Mr. Lewis has enjoyed an active social life with many friends; “the lifestyle of a retired person” since 2006.
The judge also pointed out it would not be appropriate to consider Mr. Lewis’s failure to show remorse as a factor in sentencing, as he pled not guilty and maintained his innocence throughout the trial. But he said the Court’s sentence should be one of “denunciation and deterrence,” sending the message that society will not tolerate the sexual predation of children and the destruction of their innocence.
The judge also ordered a DNA sample be taken, a weapons prohibition for 10 years, and that Mr. Lewis be added to the Sex Offenders Registry for 20 years. At the conclusion of the sentencing, he said, “Good luck, Mr. Lewis.”
As he was led away, Mr. Kinahan followed. Mrs. Lewis and her supporters immediately left the courtroom.
But, the victims who were present, the investigating police officers, the Crown and the victims’ families hugged each other, many in tears. The mood, though subdued, was jubilant.
Ms Cullen praised the victims for their courage, saying the long investigation and trial “were worth it.”
OPP Detective/Constable Steve Surmet, the lead investigator on the case, said it was difficult, as are all sexual assault investigations, but particularly because the victims were men who had to recount such intimate details to police. The fact that Mr. Lewis was a former police officer, he said, only made the investigation “more complex.”
“But, the victims showed great courage...justice has been served.” He said he hoped their example would encourage other victims to come forward.
One victim, who came thousands of miles to see justice done, had tears in his eyes as he and his mother stood together. “The sentence was what I thought it would be; I didn’t think he’d get 12 years, “ he said. “I just thought the judge didn’t weigh the fact that he was a cop as much as he should have. But, yes, it’s justice.”
The man’s mother, who has been in court throughout the trial, said she “can’t say enough” about Justice Fragomeni. “He was careful, thoughtful and did a wonderful job.”
And for the victim who started it all, the man who admitted his descent into alcohol and drug abuse, came a bittersweet victory. Mr. Lewis received the longest sentence, 24 months, on the counts relating to the assaults on that man, when he was not yet a teenager.
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