Regina man gets house arrest for 2007 sexual assault of 4-year-old girl

WARNING: This article contains details of abuse.

A man convicted of sexually assaulting a then four-year-old girl in his Regina home nearly two decades ago will now serve his conditional sentence in the same place where the assault happened.

Edwin Woolhether, 68, was sentenced Friday to two years less a day by a Regina Court of King’s Bench judge.

He will serve his time in the community, remaining inside his approved residence for 24 hours a day, unless he has written permission to be elsewhere.

Woolhether is subject to numerous conditions, including completing 250 hours of community service before the end of his sentence. He must also comply with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act for the next 20 years.

He was convicted of one count of sexual assault and found not guilty of sexual interference for touching his young neighbour in the bathroom while they were alone together in 2007. The girl was four years old at the time, according to the decision.

His defence lawyer Jared Aumiller called the ruling unique, noting that the presiding judge, Justice Darin Chow, did not find there was touching "for a sexual purpose."

"Given the uniqueness of that verdict, we're happy that a community-based sentence was decided upon by the judge," Aumiller said.

In his written decision for the verdict, Justice Chow said Woolhether’s motive for touching the victim is "legally irrelevant" for the sexual assault conviction, as his actions clearly violated her.

But he found there was reasonable doubt for the sexual interference charge.

Woolhether’s evidence argued there was no sexual purpose in the touching and that he "derived no sexual gratification from doing so," according to the decision.

Chow wrote that while he was "unable to accept" that evidence, "after careful consideration of the evidence as a whole, I am certainly left with a reasonable doubt by it."

Not left 'a free man': defence

Aumiller said people underestimate the impact a conditional sentence can have on someone’s freedom and liberty.

"It's not that he's coming out of the courthouse a free man. There's restrictions on his liberty for quite possibly the rest of his life," he said.

"The conditions would see him away from other people that need to be protected."

Crown prosecutor Chris White had argued for a minimum two year prison sentence, which he said is more "in line with the case law."

He said because the assault happened in 2007, before mandatory minimums, there were different sentencing options available.

"I don’t think this is much of a penalty for him," White said. "He’s almost 70, he’s retired. I don’t think he goes out very much anyway."

He said the fact that the assault happened in the same house where Woolhether will live is problematic and one of the reasons the Crown argued against a conditional sentence.

"It’s still a sexual offence against a child for which he took absolutely no responsibility," White said.

The assault 

Court heard that on May 13, 2007, Woolhether touched his neighbour, then in kindergarten, in the bathroom while the two were alone.

His home shared a fence with the girl's family, and she would often play on a trampoline in Woolhether’s backyard.

The now-adult woman detailed how the incident impacted her life during sentencing arguments on Oct. 31, saying "the trauma from the assault caused me to retreat within myself and trust no one."

"I wasn’t the same little girl after May 13, 2007," she said.

Her identity is protected by a publication ban because she was a minor at the time of the assault.

According to her family, Woolhether was a trusted neighbour.

Woolhether was arrested and charged in the 2007 incident in 2023, a year after he was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a minor, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching for a separate incident alleged to have happened in 2022.

Charges related to the 2022 incident were stayed earlier this year.

On Friday, Justice Chow said the written reasons for his sentencing decision will be released next week.

If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.