Ex-church youth counsellor gets 14-years for sexual assaults

CANADA
Calgary Herald

BY DARYL SLADE, CALGARY HERALD JUNE 13, 2013

Calling him an untreated pedophile and a sex offender who is a substantial risk to reoffend, a judge sentenced former church youth counsellor Roderick Kyle Janssen to 14 years in prison Thursday for sexually abusing six young boys.

Provincial court Judge Catherine Skene also declared Janssen a long-term offender and placed him under community supervision for another 10 years after his release. Janssen was given double credit for time already spent in custody, leaving him with nine years and eight months to serve in prison.

“Mr. Janssen suffers from pedophilia and used opportunistic social strategies to gain trust of mothers of the boys,” Skene said in giving her sentence on Thursday.

“He is sexually attracted to boys and he used his friendship and trust through the church to take them on trips, to use hot tubs and go on other outings. Mr. Janssen went to excessive lengths to get close to them.”

Janssen pleaded guilty in November 2011 to 18 charges, including six for sexually abusing the boys, mostly aged six to 13, and a dozen counts related to child pornography.

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