An Innisfil man and former school maintenance worker Harold Leblanc has pleaded guilty to several counts of sexual assault involving children.
According to the statement of facts agreed upon by both the Crown and defence lawyers, Leblanc sexually assaulted young girls for the past five decades. The assaults date back to 1977.
Leblanc was first arrested in September of 2016 and was released under strict conditions. More witnesses later came forward and Leblanc was arrested again less a month later by South Simcoe Police.
Leblanc sat in the prisoner's box for nearly four hours on Friday. His eyes and head were down, while facing Justice Glen Krelove.
The court heard witness impact statements read aloud by the Crown.
“He took advantage of her trust and innocence. He made her feel like she deserved it.”
The mother of the victim read, “I can't believe this is my life. I will never be normal again. I pretended it never happened and I put it all away. Now there's been some validation and there are going to be consequences.”
The Crown attorney added, "he is a pedophile and either doesn't know it or chooses to ignore it. He needs to be separated from society."
The Crown is arguing for at least six years in prison, while the defence wants four. They failed to come to an agreement on constitutionality regarding past cases, which supported or struck down merits of minimum mandatory penalties.
The case has been adjourned until June 29.
