A sentencing hearing started Monday in B.C. Supreme Court for a Saanich Peninsula nanny who pleaded guilty to a slew of sex crimes against children.
On July 3, 2020, Jonathan Lee Robichaud pleaded guilty to eight charges including sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, possession of child sex abuse imagery and making sexually explicit material available to a child.
Robichaud lived in Greater Victoria for a significant period of time and had various employment and volunteer positions, including with youth groups, church groups, child care facilities, before-after school programs and as a nanny.
Crown lawyer Paul Pearson is seeking a five- to nine-year prison sentence for Robichaud. He outlined the facts of the case Monday, detailing Robichaud’s relationship to the victims and the events leading up to the disclosure of the abuse, which occurred primarily in 2017.
READ ALSO: Greater Victoria nanny pleads guilty to child porn, sexual interference charges
Robichaud was arrested during an orchestrated traffic stop in 2018. Police seized his cellphone and a secure digital card housed in the device, which contained more than 12,000 sexually abusive images of children, including 133 images of the victims at the centre of the charges.
Police also seized a hard drive hidden at Robichaud’s father’s home. His father did not initially cooperate, but when he was told that the allegations involved children, went to a painting on the wall and revealed a hard drive, which contained roughly 100 images of sex abuse against children.
Pearson read portions of victim impact statements submitted by the victims and their parents.
“It’s been rare that a day or two goes by without thinking about what the offender has done to my children,” he read. “I feel anger, sadness, confusion, fear, bitterness, hatred, sickening feelings and emotions.
“I hope that counselling will help them work out the damage done by the offender and [they will] be able to heal from it.”
The sentencing date for Robichaud was set for Jan. 15 but delayed after he was admitted to hospital for abdominal pain.
The sentencing hearing is expected to continue Tuesday, Feb. 2.
READ ALSO: Saanich nanny facing new charges of child pornography
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