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It’s not the first time police came calling about allegations of child-sex crimes. Police first investigated him back in 1999 after someone complained, but the probe didn’t yield criminal charges. The file was revived after a victim came forward, and this time the driver admitted everything to police and expressed remorse for terrorizing his young victims, off and on, across 30 years.

In victim-impact statements filed in court, the victims described the lingering effects of their abuse. They find it hard to trust anyone to this day.

Their predator read an apology in court and his defence lawyer Paul Lewandowski filed letters of support from former co-workers and friends who said they’d be there for him once released back into the community.

Lewandowski said his client is “focusing on the future and getting treatment.”

In an interview months before he was sentenced, the offender said he needed help, expressed remorse for his victims, and said he was sorry for “embarrassing the guys” at OC Transpo.

Ontario Court Justice Robert Wadden noted in a July 20 decision that the man’s early guilty plea was a big mitigating factor, and that it spared his victims from testifying.

“His guilty plea means his victims did not need to testify in court and it took away the uncertainty of the outcome of this proceeding,” Wadden said. “The victims themselves may not realize the significance of this, but those who work in the criminal justice system can attest to how much further suffering this has saved them.”

The man was credited for pre-sentence custody, so his actual sentence is just under seven years.

gdimmock@postmedia.com

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