'He hurt me and my family,' Former Barrie Subway manager sentenced for sex crimes involving girls who worked for him

Stephen Lemmond, a former Barrie restaurant manager, will spend seven years behind bars for sex crimes involving girls who worked for him, including four under 18.

"I don't think it will ever be enough," said one victim outside the Barrie courthouse Wednesday following the sentencing.

"I feel the sentencing should be more," her mother added. "And I think these girls are going to have a lifetime of suffering the results of what happened to them, and that doesn't go away after 87 months for them."

Lemmond managed two Subway restaurants owned by his parents in south Barrie on Yonge Street and Minet's Point Road. Both have since been sold.

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The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault, assault and sexual exploitation after six victims came forward to police with similar stories of abuse over several years.

"I feel, like, angry and sad," the victim said Wednesday. "I think it went on longer than it should have for all the victims. But I'm also glad that they realized that he needed to be locked away, and I hope he doesn't ever have to come out. I hope he never makes it out."

Several victims said Lemmond threatened them and warned them he knew dangerous people if they talked, even going so far as to try to get some girls to sign consent forms.

"He hurt me and my family," the victim continued, describing how she has lived in fear since her ordeal. "But knowing he's in jail can give me a bit of peace, but I'll always be careful in the future of who to trust and who not to trust, especially male figures in my life."

"This is and has been arduous and quite serious. All I hope is that everybody that suffered begins to heal," stated Lemmond's lawyer, Andrew Perrin.

Lemmond will now be on the sex offender registry for 20 years.